1. Health Literacy Through Testing

2. The Problems As of 2012, approximately half of the US adults suffer from a chronic health condition. A quarter have 2 or more conditions.[1] By 2023, we expect to see a 42% increase in the number of cases for these conditions.[2] In 2006, 84% of all healthcare spending in the US was for the 50% of the population with a chronic condition.[2] Many of these conditions are attributed to unhealthy lifestyles, and are thus, preventable.[2] Additionally, most medical spending is the result of improper management of these chronic conditions.[1] [1] cdc.gov [2] Milken Institute, An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Diseases. 2007 3. The Major Barriers The Physicians Perspective: It is hard to find time to educate patients. There is no way to quickly assess a patients medical literacy. The Patients Perspective: Too much time is spent in the waiting room. Trying to remember everything that a physician explains can be difficult. It can be stressful to ask physicians questions. 4. The Idea Administer a health literacy test Studies have shown that testing is the best way to retain information.[3] Test the patients about diseases that they have. Provide them with real-time feedback. Assess the patients health literacy The results will provide a snapshot of the patients problem areas. Sequential administration will allow physicians to track improvement. Educate the patient Physicians can use the test results to focus on problem areas for education. Discussion of the patients misconceptions will facilitate asking questions. Test results and educational information can be emailed to the patient. Patients will feel that the time spent on the test was productive for their health! [3] Rawson, KA. Dunlosky, J. When Is Practice Testing Most Effective for Improving the Durability and Efficiency of Student Learning? Educ Psychol Rev (2012) 24:419435 5. The Benefits & Concerns Benefits: Low cost Provides health literacy data for research purposes Concerns: Patients with low literacy will be less likely to agree to the test. Provide incentives Make test accessible to those with low literacy (ie translations, pictures, simple language, etc.) Patients will be more upset if the physician does not have time to address the test results. Tests will be simple enough that non-physicians can address the results Provide incentive for the physician to address the results Tracking significant health outcomes will not be quick. Gather non-health data (ie patient satisfaction, return rates, compliancy, etc.) Gather easily obtainable health metrics (ie HbA1c) and extrapolate