BioSticker trials monitor patients in the community

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand Counties Manukau and South Canterbury Districts have gone live with trials of BioStickers for remote monitoring of patients in the community.

Health Minister Andrew Little visited Timaru on 12 August to announce the 6-month-long trials.

“Technology has the potential to really change the way we do things – to do things that are better for patients and at the same time ease pressure on the health system,” he said.

BioStickers are 85mm long, made of soft flexible material and are worn on the upper left chest. They capture medical-grade data, such as skin temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate.

The devices sync with an app pre-installed onto a mobile phone, which securely transfers patient data from the BioSticker to the BioCloud, where it can be analysed to give early indications of adverse trends.

The Counties Manukau trial, which started on July 4 this year, monitors Covid patients who are in the Hospital in the Home programme or under the care of trial collaborator, Whanau Ora Community Clinic, one of the largest Māori providers supporting the Covid mahi/care in Auckland region.

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The wearable devices have already been used for more than 70 people in the district.

Programme director at Te Whatu Ora – Counties Manukau, Jenny Pooley, says this monitoring provides clinicians with enhanced oversight of patients in the community with Covid-19, allowing care teams to provide proactive interventions when necessary.

The key aim of the Counties Manukau trial is to understand patient and whānau experiences and acceptability of the device for remote patient monitoring (RPM) projects in the future.

Up to 500 patients will take part in the trial over six months.

In South Canterbury, 10 people have been given monitors to see how they can help keep rural people be cared for at home.

“Early feedback from people using these devices is that they like being at home instead of in hospital, and with the devices on they feel safe,” Minister Little said.
The BioStickers are from a US company called BioIntelliSense and this is the first time the devices have been used locally.

Te Whatu Ora Health NZ Counties Manukau and South Canterbury districts worked together to bring the FDA-approved BioIntelliSense system into New Zealand and continue to collaborate.

A statement from the Minister says the projects are seeking to understand what groups of patients would most benefit from these devices.

Expected benefits include; earlier discharge from hospital, waiting room management, reduced hospital avoidance and support for unwell people in the community, such as post cardiac surgery, chemotherapy, those with long-term health conditions and for frail older people.


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