Proving Telehealth With Patients

Proving Telehealth With Patients

Halton and St Helens Community Health Services in the UK have launched a 12 month telehealth project where they will asses the effectiveness of telehealth to remotely manage the health of locals living with a chronic condition.

A selection of local residents who have a chronic condition will be provided with a Tunstall telehealth monitor installed in their home.

The Tunstall telehealth monitor will collect patient data and transmit it to a response centre where it will be assessed by local nursing staff.

Once the project is complete and the effectiveness of telehealth monitoring for the region is established, Halton and St Helens will roll out Tunstall’s telehealth monitors to the wider community living with heart failure, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

When installed in the home, patients will be trained on how to use the monitor to take their own blood pressure, measure their oxygen levels, weight and temperature, and how to use the unit to answer a series of health related questions.

Once the data is collected it is automatically transferred in real time to the monitoring centre, where the information is checked and abnormal readings reported to the patient’s senior nurse for immediate action.

Elsewhere, Tunstall’s telehealth program has demonstrated its effectiveness in assisting with the management of chronic conditions.

In one example a 67 year old heart failure patient who prior to starting telehealth had four hospital admissions in 12 months, had no hospital admission in the four months using the unit.

“I have felt at ease being able to monitor my health daily, which would have been impossible under normal circumstances.”

“Without the telehealth system I would have been admitted to hospital again.”

Mike Ore, head of service delivery, Community Health Services believes that by deploying the system for community based care Halton and St Helens are educating patients and encouraging them to proactively manage their condition.

“By deploying the system for community based care we are empowering patients, reducing anxiety, promoting independence and so improving overall quality of life”, Mr Ore said.

Halton and St Helens aim to support their local community as close to their homes as possible, with telehealth providing a practice solution.

About Tunstall Healthcare With over 2.5 million users globally, Tunstall is the market leading provider of telecare and telehealth solutions. Across Australia Tunstall’s solutions support older people and those with long term needs to live independently, by effectively managing their health and wellbeing. Tunstall provides technology, expertise and advice to millions of people enabling them to lead independent more fulfilling lives. For more information on how telecare and telehealth can improve quality of life, visit www.tunstallhealthcare.com.au

ENDS

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