Telehealth Solutions Innovation Triumphs at Scottish Health Awards

IMPROVING patient care through the innovative use of technology is the prime objective of UK firm Telehealth Solutions Limited.

The progressive UK firm, established in 2006, has made it its mission to provide a comprehensive remote monitoring service for patients.

Now its pioneering telehealth project on the Isle of Bute has earned the company, along with NHS Highland and Argyll & Bute Council, the Innovation and Improvement accolade at this year’s Scottish Health Awards.

The firm’s product list includes the CardioPod, HomePod, SurgeryPod, Check-in Pod and CarePod, which together can monitor everything from heart disease, blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and diabetes to obesity, hypertension and depression.

In January this year, 15 HomePods were installed on Bute, giving GPs the chance to remotely monitor islanders with chronic health conditions.

Every day, the patients updated information on their HomePods by answering a series of questions designed to assess whether or not their health was deteriorating or if pain was escalating. The information was then sent via wireless internet technology to the local GP surgery for action where necessary. This alone has helped reduce the need for regular – and very often unnecessary – house calls.

The HomePod benefits were immediately apparent when, just weeks after the project went live, the first unplanned hospital admission was avoided. That meant patients were being spared the anxiety of being taken to hospital, possibly outwith their own area. It also meant a reduction in high hospital costs, fees for out-of-hours emergencies and helicopter call-outs.

Telehealth Solutions’ Executive Chairman Jeremy Cummin said the award underpinned the fact that telehealth is the future and was the pinnacle to what has been a highly successful pilot project on Bute.

Jeremy said: “Our objective as a pioneering and progressive telehealth company is improved delivery of care through technology. Patient feedback has been very positive as the HomePod is helping them avoid going into hospital and also giving them the comfort of knowing their condition is being remotely monitored more closely.

“Health professionals also say the HomePod frees them up to prioritise their workload by allowing them to monitor patients and pay a visit when required. “For today’s NHS professionals, most of who are bound by budget constraints, there is no doubt that offering patients the chance to take charge of their own health where appropriate – and with remote medical guidance – is a fantastic step forward.

NHS Highland’s project manager Lynn Garrett said early evaluations suggest further admissions have been saved but a structured evaluation, carried out in partnership with the University of the Highlands and Islands, will shortly be conducted. And the results will be shared with other health authorities.

Lynn went on: “Telehealth, for us, fits in perfectly with the Department of Health’s Shifting the Balance of Care agenda and we wanted to embrace this at the start of any service redesign so we embed it in our practice.”

“We’re very aware change requires organisational support and buy-in from staff on the ground as well as patients, so we really had to sit down and think where telehealth would work best for our patients, which could well be what earned us the award.”

Dr Colin Reid, of the Charleston Medical Practice, has been heavily involved in the project and explained that, if a patient is admitted to hospital with COPD they are usually there for between 10-15 days, which costs hundreds of pounds.

But early detection of problems via the HomePod means patients can be admitted when they’re not as ill and won’t have to stay in hospital so long.

Entrepreneur Cummin, the force behind the emergence of the Watford-based firm, is remarkably frank about the impact his firm’s technology has made.

Jeremy went on: “This is a very exciting time for Telehealth Solutions. Not only is the firm on the verge of expansion, our groundbreaking technology is now really starting to make a difference in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

“From our experience and the feedback from medical professionals, patients love the HomePod as it offers them an unprecedented sense of freedom and also peace of mind that they are taking charge of their own health.

“Crucially it also removes the temptation for self-diagnosis, which is common but very dangerous. For NHS professionals, many bound by budget constraints, allowing patients to take charge of their own health – with remote medical guidance – is a fantastic step forward.”

Bute is not the only Scottish community to benefit from the presence of HomePods. In Renfrewshire, 20 HomePods were installed at the Charleston Medical Practice in Paisley in January.

Since then several hospital admissions have been avoided and the HomePod has also prompted some GPs to visit a patient after noticing a change in their condition.

The HomePod is taking off in a big way in England as two other sites in Thetford and Norwich have adopted the groundbreaking technology, which will ‘go live’ very soon.

 

Posted on Tuesday, 22 December 2009