Health Matters - Apple Magazine Health Matters Winter 2019 | Page 4

“I had no clue this problem was
occurring,” Nichol says. “It was
quite a big surprise. I had no pain or
anything.” Aortic aneurysms tend
not to cause any symptoms, making
screening for them critical.
Because Nichol had been a regular
patient of Bockmuehl’s for the
past eight years, he was part of
his patient panel and flagged for
the screening.
What is a patient panel?
“Panelling is a tool for physicians to
track patients in their care journey,”
says Dr. Farai Senzani, a physician
who uses patient panelling at the
Crystal Ridge Family Medical Clinic
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in Strathmore. “Examples span from
screening such as mammograms
and FITs (fecal immunochemical
tests for colon cancer) to following
up with missed imaging or specialist
referrals.” The benefit is fewer delays
from diagnosis to treatment.
Essentially, panelling allows family
doctors to take care of their patients
as a group, based on factors such
as age, gender and disease. Doctors
can look at patterns and trends to
see what their patients may need,
and work behind the scenes to
ensure their good health. Patients
don’t have to be in the office for
their doctors to be working for
them. If one patient has a medical
issue, it can spur the doctor to look
at their panel and see if any other
patients could benefit from testing
for that issue, as well.
“Being a regular and identified
part of a family doctor’s panel
means that we can more easily
identify folks who might need
some screening test or who might
need a medication change or refill,”
Bockmuehl says. Patients like Nichol
are marked for screening because
new abdominal aortic aneurysm
guidelines recommend one-time
ultrasound screening for men aged
65 to 80.
Screening saves lives
A similar approach is at work at
Dr. Robert Cole’s family practice