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Another Story From Sam

The document presents a personal narrative by John Yolton reflecting on his experiences with monitoring and managing his blood pressure over the years. It highlights the evolution of health care technology and the importance of patient involvement in their own health management, emphasizing collaborative decision-making with healthcare professionals. Ultimately, it draws a parallel between personal health management and asset care performance management, advocating for ongoing monitoring and adjustments based on data trends.

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Conrad Conradmann
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5 views2 pages

Another Story From Sam

The document presents a personal narrative by John Yolton reflecting on his experiences with monitoring and managing his blood pressure over the years. It highlights the evolution of health care technology and the importance of patient involvement in their own health management, emphasizing collaborative decision-making with healthcare professionals. Ultimately, it draws a parallel between personal health management and asset care performance management, advocating for ongoing monitoring and adjustments based on data trends.

Uploaded by

Conrad Conradmann
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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January 2025

A Personal Perspective of Asset Care Performance Management


by John Yolton

Sam was sitting at his desk the other day reflecting upon his long-time goals of improving asset care
performance.

‘I’ve been monitoring my heart’s performance during a transition period following a change in my
blood pressure medicines.’ Sam thought to himself, perhaps even muttering a few words out loud,
as was common practice, although there was no one else to hear.

‘The amazing result is how well the heart responds to this change.

Years ago, on a project in Brazil, in a remote area not too many Brazilians have visited, nor even
know about, I was ordered, by the client, to stop my work and return to the USA because my BP
systolic was above their internally accepted, no exceptions, less than 140, and it could not be lowered
with a half hour rest on the site’s infirmary’s bed.

Obedience to a strict no exception company rule caused a particularly complex restaffing situation for
the services company I represented.

But that is not the subject of this story.

The continuance of my heart’s performance is the subject.

Immediately upon returning to the States, my personal physician , after examination, stated that my
BP was within an acceptable range, but that he would prescribe a regime of medications to try to
keep the BP within the then, USA standard, 140/90, also informing me that I would have to stay on
this medication forever, which of course I did not appreciate.

I don’t like to take any medications, but he convinced me it was for my long-term health care benefit
to keep on this regime.

That was the beginning of another long-term practice, monitoring my BP myself, every chance I got
in my busy career schedule. Not having the opportunity to carry a BP monitor with me on my travels,
that technology had not yet become widely available, I frequently visited my local drug store and
used their free-for-use machine and of course, the annuals and not too frequent reactive visits to
my personal care physician.

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After several years, a decade or two, I noticed that my BP average was slowly rising, this again was
before ‘health care’ providers, reluctantly it seems, adopted electronic records of their patient’s
health status, another slowly adapted technology.

Upon visiting my physician for an annual I remarked that my BP average systolic and diastolic,
seems to be rising. He took a few minutes to reexamine my paper records of my visits and then
asked me, what are your prescriptions, apparently those were on a different paper-based data
base.

I told him and he then referenced a very thick book from the drawer of the exam room’s desk paging
through several different sections of the book and said, yes, I think you are due for a change in your
BP medications doses, prescribing doses with more mg/l per medication.

Following this new regime for a few more years, a decade perhaps, during which hearth rate and BP
monitoring technology had advanced to small, portable instruments with a cuff, at an acceptable
price, enabling patients to monitor on their own, whenever.

Enabling what I refer to as ‘basic care’ or the routine process of examining data, self-collected, as
an owner/operator/technician.

Subsequently, over the intervening years of data collection including the annual physical check up
with blood work and an electronic archive which can be visited and examined personally, thanks to
technology advances in data collection, archiving and retrieval, patterns and trends can be
determined by the attending physician and/or the patient depending upon the patient’s and
personal care professional’s interest in the data and its indications.

I’ve found that trends in change of monitored conditions must be discussed between the two and
usually, from my experience, this discussion is initiated by the patient’s concerns.

In essence, because the data is now readily available, better decisions about courses of action can
be made. I still rely upon my personal care professional (PCP) for their advice based upon their
technical knowledge, e.g., the ‘maintenance’ and/or ‘reliability’ aspect of asset care performance
management but I, with access to the data and my own interest in my health, can often drive a
moderation of that care management.

Twice in the last several years I have questioned my PCP about my perceptions of the patterns or
trends in the lab work, imaging, aches and pains, and BP/heart rate monitoring and she has
responded with suggested, mutually agreed, BP medications changes.

Apparently, this cooperative consultation has worked. My BP rate is now averaging in the low 120s
systolic and mid 60s diastolic, and my heartbeat rate has increased on average from mid 50s in a
narrow consistent range (unusually low for my age) to the upper 60s across a much wider range
depending upon exertion. Very good indications of healthiness.

Isn’t that the purpose of asset performance care?

To monitor and adjust (change, in other words) collaboratively among the owner/operators and
technical expertise?

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