WHAT’S NEW?
TELEHEALTH TV PLATFORM DRAMATICALLY REDUCES HOME VISITS AND EMERGENCY
ADMISSIONS A digital self-care health platform that connects community staff with chronically ill patients and their families via their TV is dramatically reducing home visits and emergency hospital admissions, according to new research.
The 12-month pilot study of chronic lung disease patients by an NHS Foundation Trust showed promising results for Nimbus Medical’s InterCare platform – which enables patients to check their vital signs and connects them with their support network via a tablet or TV. The system reduced nurse home visits by a third (33%), and emergency hospital visits by 37%. There was a 43% reduction in visits to outpatients, and 62% of patients reported an improvement in their anxiety levels.
InterCare gives patients the technology, confidence and support to manage long-term conditions and take a proactive role in their own care. The platform keeps patients in touch with everyone in their health and wellbeing network, including social care staff.
Patients used it to digitally track vital signs, such as blood pressure and oxygen levels, complete health questionnaires, and communicate with their community matron. They also made and received video calls from family and friends, and learnt about their condition, enabling them to manage it better.
Their Community Matron team set vital signs parameters to enable safe self-monitoring. The system alerted the patient if their vital signs were outside the parameters. They were then able to follow an agreed action plan with their clinician.
The senior clinical informatics and benefits facilitator at the Trust said: “All of the patients who took part in the study led very restricted lives because
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of their condition. They all recognised that their condition was susceptible to deterioration very quickly, and reported that proactive monitoring made them more confident in managing it better.”
A community nurse care coordinator said: “Patients who were motivated to use the technology felt empowered by it. One patient with severe COPD was very incapacitated by his breathing, but wanted to manage his condition himself as much as possible. His wife worked, so he was on his own quite a lot. He asked for the system, and he checked his vital signs every day. He was independent, and didn’t like going into hospital.
“The system was very good at making him aware of how ill he was sometimes. He had the reassurance that he could contact us for advice on what to do to stop his condition worsening, and avoid a hospital admission.”
John, a patient who took part in the pilot, has had chronic lung disease and associated anxiety for 10 years.
John said: “InterCare has been a valuable tool to help me get back into a healthy lifestyle. I would say it is revolutionary. It is so easy and straightforward to navigate on my TV. I would recommend it to anyone.”
Julie, John’s wife, appreciates the reassurance that InterCare offers to
family members.
Julie added: “My favourite aspect of it is having that connectivity to make sure he’s fine. But I also know that if he isn’t, there is something he can do to get help if he can’t get out of the house.”
A patient's own television can be InterCare-enabled with a HDMI stick, secure camera and user-friendly, large-scale keyboard controls. It brings accessible technology to a broad range of patients, including the elderly, vulnerable and those who need support with chronic conditions and rehabilitation.
Mark Pedder, of Nimbus Medical’s senior management team, said: “With the current pressures on the NHS and social care, technology offers a clear pathway for patients with chronic conditions to manage their own care as much as possible. Overcoming the accessibility challenge is crucial though – to make digital healthcare viable for patients with varying technical ability. This pilot study shows that an intuitive interface, which uses existing trusted devices such as your own TV, brings clinicians, patients and their families together as care partners to provide real health benefits. It empowers patients and significantly improves outcomes.”
www.nimbusmedical.co.uk www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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