Chronic condition management in Tasmania
Patients in Tasmania are using Clinitouch remote monitoring technology to monitor conditions such as Heart Failure, Ischemic Heart Disease, Diabetes, General Health Risk, and COPD. Read more about the project below.
Not only are hospital admissions expensive, but the increasing number of admissions is putting immense pressure on the Tasmanian healthcare system.
This highlights a critical need to reduce hospitalisations for those patients that can be managed within the community.
By monitoring patients' conditions and identifying signs of deterioration sooner, this can help to alleviate the strain on hospital beds. Clinical resources can focus on high-risk cases and patients get the care they need, in the right place.
The Challenge
Many members of the Tasmanian community experience the effects of chronic illness, and a health system that tends to focus on treatment rather than prevention.
What does this project look like?
There are many components that make up a project, such as identifying the appropriate patient cohort, or making sure that you're monitoring the correct vital signs. Read more below about the foundations of this project.
The Objectives
What this project aims to do
- Enable nursing team to remotely monitor their patients, spotting signs of deterioration early on
- Reduce avoidable hospitalisations through earlier identification of concerning health trends
- Decrease treatment complexities due to a more proactive approach to care, resulting in lower healthcare-related costs
Application
Real scenario of how this project is helping patients
Below is a scenario provided by our partner showcasing how Clinitouch helps to provide preventative care, as well as extending continuous care outside of clinics.
"One client’s results were deteriorating as his COPD symptoms were getting worse, a nurse followed up with him to ensure he went to see his GP. Luckily, he had already made an appointment, but if he hadn’t it would have prompted the conversation as we were aware of his decline in health. As it was picked up, they can continue to monitor him as he improves."
Feedback
"We are delighted to have early reports that the set-up process and the app was simple and easy to use."
Steve McCullagh, CEO at Salveo Healthcare
We are thrilled to have received early feedback that patients are "finding it easy and simple to use", and the "nurses can see the benefit of this technology relating to enhanced client care, improved self-management and importantly that we may be more responsive to provide the right care at the right time".
Our project with our Tasmanian partner was featured in Healthcare IT News, where CEO, Steve McCullagh talks through why they partnered with Clinitouch, progress so far, and future plans.
Feedback
"We are delighted to have early reports that the set-up process and the app was simple and easy to use."
Steve McCullagh, CEO at Salveo Healthcare
Future Scope
What are the future plans for this project?
This technology has helped to create scalability for the Advanced Preventative Care program, allowing more patients to benefit from this service. The next steps are to roll out the technology more broadly to their current client base.
The initial pilot focuses on broad health conditions, however future plans are to look at more specific, nuanced conditions.
