{"id":3698,"date":"2023-06-28T10:17:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T08:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/?p=3698"},"modified":"2023-06-28T10:17:02","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T08:17:02","slug":"the-importance-of-integrated-chronic-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/archives\/3698","title":{"rendered":"The importance of integrated chronic care"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>With so many deaths being attributed to chronic illnesses, managing these diseases more effectively can go a long way towards reducing healthcare costs and saving lives.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seventy-four percent of all deaths globally are caused by non-communicable diseases, with cardiovascular diseases accounting for the most, followed by cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes. Physical inactivity, smoking, unhealthy diets and the harmful use of alcohol all increase the risk of dying from one of these diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn Medscheme, over 60% of claims are attributable to chronic illness,\u201d says Ayesha Kriel, Head of Disease and Medicine Management at AfroCentric. \u201cThis gives us the perfect opportunity to engage more personally and directly with our members to encourage actionable behaviour change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"950\" src=\"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/NCD-3-1024x950.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3699\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/NCD-3-1024x950.png 1024w, https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/NCD-3-300x278.png 300w, https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/NCD-3-768x713.png 768w, https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/NCD-3.png 1261w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Managing healthcare costs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AfroCentric\u2019s integrated chronic care programme aims to stop rising chronic care costs and to help our members manage their chronic illnesses more effectively, improving their quality of life and reducing unnecessary co-payments wherever possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our chronic care programme is supported by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Strong clinical policymakers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Advanced analytical health models<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Top-quality hospital and provider networks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe manage people, not diseases,\u201d says Ayesha. \u201cWe have to do everything we can to address the chronic disease burden because the truth is that we have a responsibility to help those individuals live much longer, healthier lives by removing all barriers to care and providing them with the tools to make better, healthier choices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since prevention is better than cure, we also leverage our digital wellness mobile platform to support members on a journey towards healthier lifestyles. This includes education and prompts about diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol and the environment, all of which helps to reduce the risk of chronic illnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Data-informed decisions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our pharmaceutical division also provides direct access to affordable generics and courier services, along with discounted prices and fees. \u201cPart of the burden of chronic illnesses lies in the cost and availability of chronic medication. We streamline that process for our members so they can focus on managing their condition,\u201d says Ayesha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With data generated at every point in the care process, AfroCentric can make data-informed decisions to inform care programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCare through all stages of life is a top priority, but the cost of healthcare has been continuously burdened by siloed structures of care,\u201d Ayesha adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe know that this integrated chronic care model which brings together all our value-adding capabilities will not only reduce the burden of chronic disease, but it will also play a meaningful role in our members\u2019 lives across the entire care continuum. We will support you when you are healthy, are showing signs of developing a chronic condition, have been diagnosed with a chronic condition and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As one of AfroCentric\u2019s value-adding Care initiatives, easing the burden of chronic disease complements other interventions such as Wellness, Virtual Care, Cancer Care, Cardiac Care, HIV Care and Diabetes Care.<\/p>\n<div style=\"display:flex; gap:10px;justify-content:center\" class=\"wps-pgfw-pdf-generate-icon__wrapper-frontend\">\n\t\t<a  href=\"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3698?action=genpdf&amp;id=3698\" class=\"pgfw-single-pdf-download-button\" ><img src=\"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-generator-for-wp\/admin\/src\/images\/PDF_Tray.svg\" title=\"Generate PDF\" style=\"width:auto; height:45px;\"><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With so many deaths being attributed to chronic illnesses, managing these diseases more effectively can go a long way towards reducing healthcare costs and saving lives. Seventy-four percent of all deaths globally are caused by non-communicable diseases, with cardiovascular diseases accounting for the most, followed by cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes. Physical inactivity, smoking, unhealthy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[191],"tags":[199],"class_list":["post-3698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-business-afrocentric-06","tag-afrocentric06"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3701,"href":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3698\/revisions\/3701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmediacreative.co.za\/afrocentric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}