Caring electronically for young outpatients who have epilepsy

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to review electronic tools that might improve the delivery of epilepsy care, reduce medical care costs, and empower families to improve self-management capability.

Method: We reviewed the epilepsy-specific literature about self-management, electronic patient-reported or provider-reported outcomes, on-going remote surveillance, and alerting/warning systems.

Conclusions: The improved care delivery system that we envision includes self-management, electronic patient (or provider)-reported outcomes, on-going remote surveillance, and alerting/warning systems. This system and variants have the potential to reduce seizure burden through improved management, keep children out of the emergency department and hospital, and even reduce the number of outpatient visits.

Keywords: Epilepsy; Family-centered care; Health literacy; Quality of life.