Health Policy Manag.  2020 Sep;30(3):277-285. 10.4332/KJHPA.2020.30.3.277.

Reviews of the Shared Medical Appointments: Adopting Innovations in Care Delivery for Patients with Chronic Diseases

• Lee H

• KMID: 2507297
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4332/KJHPA.2020.30.3.277

Abstract

Chronic diseases as well as a growing population of older adults are currently the leading cause of ill health and economic burden worldwide. Managing those diseases in one-on-one medical consultations poses substantial challenges due to limited time and resources in the current health care system. Various approaches have been taken to manage these conditions, most with limited success. Shared medical appointments (SMAs) are an innovative care delivery option to make the testing of alternative care modalities a prime concern. SMAs are individual medical consultations carried out in a group of patients with similar diseases by providing education, medication management, and disease monitoring. SMAs, since their initial conceptualization in 1998, have gained much popularity and adopted as one of the standard processes in many countries. Accumulated evidence-based studies show outcomes for increasing access to care, behavioral change facilitated through self-management education, maintained/better outcomes, physician productivity, and enhanced resource management. This review summarizes current evidence regarding the existing status of SMAs abroad. An extensive literature search was conducted on major electronic databases including PubMed and Google Scholar. This study suggests to explore and exploit the SMAs which have unique potential as a healthcare delivery innovation in Korea.

Keyword

Shared medical appointments; Chronic disease; Innovation in care delivery; Self-management; Behavioral change; Preventive healthcare