| 02 Aug 2005
SingHealth's "Delivering on Target" Campaign
SingHealth is launching a campaign designed to help ensure that patients with diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol are better managed. The ‘Delivering on Target’ (DOT) campaign aims to improve the management of these chronic diseases by narrowing the gap between actual practice and standards recommended in the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) clinical practice guidelines.
1. CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK FACTORS
- Every year, an estimated 37 million people worldwide suffer a heart attack or stroke. Of these, nearly 17 million die as a result of these cardiovascular events1, including 4,500 in Singapore2.
- Heart attack and stroke are the leading causes of death and disability worldwide.
- In Singapore, heart disease and stroke are among the top five leading causes of death.
- Both heart disease and stroke are often caused by multiple risk factors.
- Besides family medical history, age and lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise and smoking; other factors like diabetes, elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol can also increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
- Individually, each risk factor may not seem cause for concern, but together, they can significantly increase an individual’s risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke.
- There is a need for both medical practitioners and patients to learn about an individual’s multiple risk factors and manage them early to prevent serious cardiovascular problems.
2. WHY SINGHEALTH IS LAUNCHING THE DOT OPTIMISATION CAMPAIGN
- The SingHealth DOT Optimisation campaign is aimed at ensuring that patients with diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol are better managed.
- DOT measures are based on clinical practice guidelines recommended by the MOH.
- Diabetes, lipids and hypertension are chronic conditions that have been identified as needing early and more aggressive management to prevent the incidence of cardiovascular disease.
- Approximately 85% of primary care visits in Singapore are to private GPs and FPs. It is estimated that hypertension and diabetes account for about 10-30% of these visits.
- Managing these chronic conditions in a community setting is important, as this can potentially prevent severe consequences of the disease and reduce healthcare costs for patients.
- Due to the complexity of chronic diseases, SingHealth has invested time and resources in health management programmes. It will now use the experience and insights gained from these programmes to collaborate with GPs/FPs in the management of the three conditions.
- GPs/FPs who sign up for the campaign will receive training and support while working with SingHealth and its partners towards achieving the DOT performance measures.
3. HOW THE DOT CAMPAIGN WILL WORK
- The SingHealth DOT campaign will be launched at the DOT symposium on the 20 Aug 2005. The symposium will feature a series of talks and workshops for GPs/FPs.
- he SingHealth DOT programme is planned to be an 18-month campaign.
- 30 GPs/FPs will be invited to participate in the initial 6-month pilot.
- Each GP/FP will recruit 5 patients into the programme and work towards the DOT performance measures.
- GPs/FPs on the campaign will get support in the form of training sessions which complement current education on the management of patients with these conditions.
- The DOT campaign will also provide GPs/FPs with tools to treat and measure the efficacy of patient management for the three conditions.
- The campaign will also feature a patient education component to help GPs/FPs.
- Diabetes nurse educators from the Diabetes Society of Singapore will assist participating GPs in providing patient education and counselling.
- Participating GPs/FPs will also be provided support to monitor the progress of their recruited patients.
- Feedback of the patients’ progress will be given to the GP/FPs for further review and evaluation.
4. WHO IS INVOLVED IN THE DOT CAMPAIGN
- SingHealth will work together with the Diabetes Society of Singapore and Johnson & Johnson who are partners on the DOT Campaign’s optimisation programme.
- Sponsors for the DOT launch symposium include: Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer and Sanofi-Aventis.
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