First ‘virtual hospital’ pilot launched in Galway
Initiative aims to increase access to services, enhance convenience, and improve outcomes
‘Virtual hospital’ pilot is a joint endeavour between Cisco, University of Galway and CÚRAM, SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices in Ireland, and its overarching objective is to reduce avoidable hospital admissions.
In conjunction with Cisco and CURAM, SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices, the University of Galway HIVE Lab has developed a range of digital care solutions for local patients, bringing together multiple clinical areas and stages of treatment.
An example is using AI technology for dynamic appointments where patients with chronic diseases are automatically triaged to an appropriate outpatient clinic slot based on their clinical need.
There are also community virtual care pathways for enhanced monitoring of chronic conditions such as COPD. The scheme enables virtual outpatient clinics for remote appointments with integrated multiparameter diagnostics and mobile health apps which allow helps patients track key health metrics and monitor symptoms from home.
The HIVE lab has also developed smartphone-based software that uses AI enabled cameras to help monitor patients’ rehabilitation exercises. This improves post operative scenarios and optimises recovery.
On the hospital side, clinicians will connect to real-time dashboards that display information on a patient’s condition. This means that any deterioration can be detected earlier, and clinicians can deliver care accordingly.
Lower costs, reduced attrition
Part of the Cisco Country Digital Acceleration Program, this venture could also lighten the load on healthcare professionals, potentially delivering reduced attrition rates and lower costs by enabling healthcare resources to be better targeted.
According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK, an early value assessment study on virtual ward platform technologies uncovered an estimated £872 (€1,020) saving per person compared with inpatient care and by £115 (€135) per person compared to care at home without a virtual ward.
To date, in the initial setup stage of the virtual hospital project in Ireland, around 350 ‘bed days’ have been saved by patients who have been supported at home via the COPD virtual care pathway.
Professor Derek O’Keeffe, Project Principal Investigator, Professor of Medical Device Technology at the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at University of Galway says that:
“This research project offers an innovative virtual solution to a real global healthcare problem. It will explore new ways of providing care to our patients using next generation technology and new clinical pathways to improve health and economic outcomes”.
Cisco is providing much of the digital infrastructure the virtual hospital platforms are built on. Brian Jordan, Country Digital Acceleration Lead, Cisco Ireland, said:
“Digital technology is critical to the future of healthcare and is capable of extending care well beyond hospital walls, right into patients’ homes and in the heart of their local community. Cisco is proud to be supporting this ground-breaking 360° care delivery model that aims to streamline processes, alleviate staff workload, and reduce financial pressures on public healthcare services.”
The emphasis on reducing pressure on the public healthcare and ultimately the cost of it is understandable. But if these pilots are to prove consequential, patients must benefit as well as costs being reduced. Patient views on the increasing digitisation of primary healthcare are decidedly mixed.
That’s probably because technology is increasingly being deployed as a barrier to accessing stretched healthcare services. In this instance, the digital platform aims to empower patients to play a more active role in their own care by providing the means to monitor their progress, with access to educational materials and the ability to participate in decisions made about their care. So far, the patient feedback has been positive.
Commenting on the significance of the initiative, CÚRAM Director, Professor Abhay Pandit, said: “This project is one of the largest industry collaborations our centre has supported to date. It is an excellent example of the impact that collaborations between CÚRAM and industry can have on local communities and society at wide.”
The geographical reach will initially be limited to the Galway region, supporting hundreds of patients across the Diabetes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation virtual care pathways.
With the development and rollout of virtual outpatient clinics this is expected to extend to thousands of patients in rural areas next year.