Improving Food Tracking Compliance with Telemedicine

Food tracking or journaling allows patients to provide their health care practitioner with real time data about what they’re eating and how much they’re eating. It also allows practitioners to evaluate patient progress over time. Rather than asking generally how patients have been eating during the occasional in-office visit, food tracking can help the provider monitor patients remotely between office visits for improved outcomes.

For patients who need to lose weight or keep track of food intake in order to treat a chronic condition, strict food tracking compliance may be necessary for their health. However, if patients struggle to remain compliant when tracking their food, it simply won’t be effective.

Not all patients need to, or want to track food down to the calorie or macronutrient and in many cases clinically, it may be more appropriate for the patient to simply keep a simple journal or take pictures of foods eaten. But any way patients keep track, it’s helpful to keep them accountable in some way. And the best way to do that, is to make it easy to do.

It can be overwhelming for patients to follow all of your instructions between office visits, especially if they’re left to put together most of the pieces themselves. Thankfully, combining tracking technology with the power of telehealth and automated care programs can help you to set your patients up for success.

Here are 3 hurdles of patient-led food tracking and solutions for how providers can assist patients to overcome these hurdles, using telemedicine and digital patient education:

Hurdle #1: Patients Deviated From Your Program

Patients forget 80% of what their health care provider tells them in an office visit. So when patients go home with instructions via a print out or a memory of what was said to them verbally, they’re very likely to return to the next encounter and claim that their care program “just didn’t work.”

While some patients are being truthful and did follow the advice, and their care may need to be adjusted, it’s typically the case that patients aren’t doing what you’ve asked of them. Nine times out of ten, these types of patients would prefer to blame the material you’ve given them, rather than admit they’ve failed.

It can be embarrassing and disheartening for patients if they haven’t followed your instructions and they don’t always want to admit that they are having trouble.

Solution: Honest Conversation and Setting Reasonable Goals

By scheduling an introductory telemedicine consult before a patient begins following your instructions (or better yet, a remote care program to be followed digitally each day), you can establish a judgment-free environment and encourage them to come to you when their plan gets tough.

Consult with patients about where they’re at, what their weaknesses and strengths are and what goals are achievable for them.

Discuss expectations for compliance, reiterate the importance of the protocol and most importantly, stress that patients are human and slip up’s can happen. Assure them that it’s always better to be honest with you, so you can adjust their program and continue to monitor their issues. And let them know that you’re a mouse click away in your virtual telemedicine clinic any time they need meet for a telehealth session to get things straight.

Hurdle #2: Patients Need Help with Technology

Technology is advancing quickly, and for patients who struggle to understand it, such as older patients, this can be a big hurdle. However, that doesn’t mean it needs to be thrown to the wayside.

Solution: Screen Share and Guide Patients Digitally

While most patients may need extra time to understand certain tracking systems, telemedicine calls are widely adopted and understood by patients, so it may be best to start with a call and begin sharing your screen and providing a tutorial for how a patient will be using these tools.

If you’re having trouble, reach out to the technology provider, as they can help guide you and your patients as well.

Hurdle #3: Patients Need Additional Guidance

If you’ve told your patients what to eat and what not to eat without giving them a set program with daily instructions and they aren’t meeting their goals, it’s likely that they need more guidance.

Solution: Assign an Automated Care Program and Schedule Regular Check In’s

Sometimes patients perform well with just a small amount of information such as a printed pamphlet and have the ability to successfully implement your recommendations on their own. For many patients, this is not the case.

An automated care program can help to fill in the gaps when patients need an additional push throughout their journey. An automated care program also allows patients to be given a daily action plan that can include trackable recipes, daily instruction and more, to take out all of the guesswork for the patient, each day.

When combined with regular telehealth visits, patient compliance increases dramatically. Patients are given all the instructions they need, each day, without the provider having to reach out daily.

Then, when it’s time to check in via telehealth visit, patients are motivated by small wins, and know that if they aren’t performing, that their visit with you is just around the corner, which means less time for excuses.

Your Remote Patient Monitoring Solution:

Food tracking is a great tool when used properly, but sometimes, the extra support that can be provided by telemedicine visits and automated education can make all the difference.

If you’re looking for a system that provides food tracking, biometric tracking, automated care programs, telemedicine and more, check out BodySite.com. BodySite offers HIPAA compliant messaging/telemedicine that can help you help your patients from the comfort of their home.

Click here to claim your 30-Day Free Trial of the BodySite platform; click here to learn more about the BodySite solution.