Patients positive about remote monitoring trial

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Early results from a South Canterbury remote patient monitoring trial are positive, with patients reporting less anxiety about their health and feeling well supported in the community.

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

The wearable device sticks on a person’s chest and monitors a range of clinical parameters such as; heart rate, respiratory rate, skin temperature and activity level. It syncs with an app on a mobile phone, which securely transfers patient data to the remote monitoring team.

The South Canterbury project is looking at avoiding presentations at the Emergency Department and admissions to hospital for high-risk older people living in the community.

Fourteen patients are being monitored currently, with the longest monitoring period to date being 36 days.

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Te Whatu Ora project sponsor, Ruth Kibble, says the trial sample size is not large enough to have statistical relevance, but is focused on understanding whether the clinicians and patients trust the system alerts and find them meaningful.

She says South Canterbury has one of the highest percentage populations of older people in the country and wants to support people to stay well at home.

Patients are invited to join the programme if they have an interRAI assessment score of 4-6. Also, via the rapid response service which looks after older people who have been recently discharged from hospital, or are being cared for at home but are acutely unwell and at risk of hospitalisation.

The rapid response service is located in the district’s Covid hub, which is supporting the patient monitoring. A clinical nurse specialist acts as the clinical lead and gets patients set up with their devices.

“Patients are saying that it really reduces their anxiety, and they feel really comfortable and reassured knowing that somebody is looking after the health,” Kibble explains.

One woman was out in town when she felt very unwell and decided to go home. Around the same time a clinician rang to ask how she was feeling because there were changes in her clinical parameters and was able to provide the patient with some clinical advice.

Another patient’s resting heart rate reduced by around 15 percent, to a more acceptable level, over the first week.

Kibble says anxiety around what to do when they feel unwell was a key concern raised by consumers when the district team was designing the new model of care.

She says daily BioReports are emailed out and some patients have opted for these to be sent to family members, who are then much more engaged and informed about the health of that older person.

Trial participant Janet Steven said, “it’s given me confidence and reassurance knowing what’s happening with my health”.


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