The LBJ Hospital in American Samoa is to help patients manage their health before their condition gets to the stage where chances of recovery fade and the treatment will be more expensive.
The hospital's CEO Michael Gerstenberger told a House hearing that American Samoa has an unhealthy population, with many patients not following prescribed treatment.
He says the LBJ hospital intends to intervene in such cases and is allocating resources for follow up.
"We are looking at a programme to try and reshuffle some of our internal resources, to do a better job of following up with those patients who don't refill their prescriptions, following up with those patients who miss their clinic visits, following up with those patients who are not getting their regular laboratory work done, so that we can help intervene and make sure that patients don't get into the terrible positions that many of them do, when they arrive at the emergency department."
The LBJ hospital's CEO Michael Gerstenberger.
