TELEHEALTH & WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
“You get people engaged with their healthcare who found it difficult and inconvenient to do so previously.”
“This allows them to do it at a time and a place which is convenient for the patient,” he added.
The system has been implemented at 26 locations around the UK already, by trusts, CCGs, hospitals and community providers. The technology is web-based and therefore extremely affordable, allowing many more patients to benefit.
“It’s a new innovation,” O’Connell said. “Every group we go to, we show them how this tool works and then they adapt it to help to increase the adherence within the pathway that they’re working in.”
Simple Telehealth and Flo are used with acute patients suffering from cancer, with kidney
disease, lung disease, learning disabilities and by pregnant women, although O’Connell pointed out, “the list is pretty much endless.”
Another advantage of the Simple Telehealth project is that Flo is available 24/7, providing a point of contact with patients who may fall ill at the weekends or out of hours.
WSD & dependency
Despite the mixed results currently being published from the Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) programme, O’Connell was adamant that there was a bright future for telehealth.
He said: “I wouldn’t agree that [the WSD] is not entirely positive. That trial was done three years ago with the equipment and knowledge that was around then.
“The data is absolutely essential and it’s the reason we went ahead and developed this Florence programme; a system which can be used to do what that does and a lot more.
“But also at a much lower cost point and a more clinically valid perspective.”
He described some previous telehealth studies where COPD patients were asked to take their blood pressure daily, where there was “no clinical point” in doing so.
“What clinicians do with Florence is use it for the clinical appropriateness,” he added. “Because it doesn’t create dependence.”
O’Connell explained that some of the systems
Productivity gains South Staffordshire trust has conducted Simple Telehealth trials with patients.
Over the period of the 12 week project, the trust found an 80% increase in compliance with the patient group, as well as a 60% productivity gain for staff due to less time spent managing the same patients.
O’Connell commented: “You’ve got the
double whammy there, saving time but increasing compliance, which increases the quality of the outcomes! And with diabetes, that’s crucial for all the knock-on things you get if you don’t take the medication properly.”
studied in the WSD could create dependence,
as the patient was ‘rewarded’ for improper use of the technology through the resultant contact. This was also more expensive than making use of an electronic monitor.
While direct phone calls or visits can still occur with Flo, the responsibility lies with the patient, as Flo sending a message directing them to ring in, rather than passively await contact.
“For certain teams we do have alerts and alarms and it can work the same way those others do, but we’ve tried to make sure it’s in an appropriate team that would be able to respond to it.
“It puts responsibility on the shoulders of the patient,” O’Connell concluded.
Phil O’Connell FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit
https://groups.its-services.org.uk/ display/simple/Home
national health executive Jul/Aug 12 | 39
diabetes
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