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Dimensions of the Patient Journey: Charting and Sharing the Patient Journey with Long Term User-Driven Support Systems

Dimensions of the Patient Journey: Charting and Sharing the Patient Journey with Long Term User-Driven Support Systems

Kresten Bjerg (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
Copyright: © 2011 |Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-097-6.ch028
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Abstract

The ways a person’s illnesses and afflictions are socially constructed and culturally conceived amongst relatives and friends as biographically contextualized in the narratives of a known life-journey are contrasted with modern conceptions of “Patient Journey” in the digitizing of medical care in hospitals and in computerized GP Consultations. In this chapter most relevant dimensions of a personal life-journey support system – across health, handicaps and illness - are outlined. The chapter demonstrates a new road to facilitate private logging of phenomena, a coherent and sedimenting self-narrative not only in text, picture and sound, but also through user-network-developed pictographic fonts. Inclusion of biotelemetric data and virtual body imaging as part of such support systems are considered. And questions are raised concerning the future of thus skilled chronic patients’ interfacing most trusted helpers, fellow-sufferers and wider shared social platforms of Patient Journey Records.
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Medical Patientjourney Concepts

Patient Journey is a pragmatic metaphor, an expression which may need some disambiguation, - especially in the context of patient narratives and experiences of illness. It can be used as referring to how patients proceed through an identified care delivery system. Seen from the angle of process mapping this refers to the total number of steps taken, as well as the total number of people involved, the total time taken to perform each process-step and all documents used.

“When extensive process mapping for a considerable patient volume is done it is now possible to bring the data together and look at the care process from a unit/department perspective........ and perform a flow analysis (widely used in Manufacturing), and develop a current state flow analysis map: •Analyse patient flow across more complex processes •Identify whether the systems are managed and in control •See what adds value and where waste occurs *Understand roles and responsibilities related to managing patient flows.” (NHS Scotland (2006)Understanding the Patient Journey – Process Mapping)

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