The technology, developed by telemedicine specialist Broomwell Healthwatch, enables fast, accurate diagnosis of heart problems by telephone and allows patients with symptoms of chest pain, or possible heart problems, or for those undergoing routine monitoring, to receive a full 12-lead ECG test at their local GP surgery or clinic within minutes - instead of having to travel to 'outpatients' department (or some diagnostic centre) and wait up to two weeks for results.
Broomwell's service is now being used in 28 PCTs in England (with quite a number in the pipeline), and is handling up to 200 ECG diagnosis calls a day from GPs and practice clinicians.
The results of a 12-month NHS trial of Broomwell's telemedical ECG service showed that around 60% of patients with chest-pain symptoms would have been referred to hospital if the ECG service had not been available. Broomwell reports the savings to the NHS from using its telemedical ECG service on a national scale could be over £100M per year.
Broomwell also provides telemedical monitoring services for cardiac arrhythmia, congestive heart failure (CHF), congestive heart disease, and COPD. According to the Department of Health, the NHS spends around £589 million per year on cardiac, angina, CHF and COPD related admissions for patients. Many of these are so-called 'frequent flyers' - patients admitted three or more times a year, whose expenses can represent up to 25% of hospital costs.
Joe Rafferty, chief executive of Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust: "Telemedical solutions offer a true win-win for both patients and the health service as a whole. They reassure the patient, reducing stress and worry, and also avoid unnecessary hospital admissions that cost the NHS hundreds of millions per year. Providing this sort of equipment at GP surgeries and clinics will improve the overall service we provide and the level of care we deliver to our patients."
Joshua Rowe, CEO of Broomwell Healthwatch, said: "We have now handled 50,000 successful telemedical calls across the country, and have completed major NHS trials which endorse the savings and value of our service. By bringing ECG expertise into every surgery (via the telephone), avoiding the need for costly referrals to outpatients, our telemedical service can transform cardiac care for both patients and the NHS.
"The service is extremely popular with GPs and practice clinicians as it enables them to make better-informed diagnoses and its great for patients as it often provides them with an immediate diagnosis - we have had very positive feedback from everyone using the service."
The telemedicine technology provides non-cardiology clinicians with 24-hour expert diagnostic support from a team of senior cardiac clinicians, and patients with quick convenient care, closer-to-home. Practice nurses carry out ECG readings and transmit the results by telephone to Broomwell's monitoring centre, with expert interpretation emailed back within minutes.
The 2008 Darzi report* highlights how latest trials of Broomwell's cardiac monitoring service have demonstrated the benefits of allowing patients to receive expert ECG diagnoses within a primary care setting, avoiding unnecessary referrals to hospital Outpatients or A&E.
NHS North West has completed two telemedicine trials in conjunction with Lancashire & South Cumbria (LSC) Cardiac Network and Greater Manchester & Cheshire (GM&C) Cardiac Network to evaluate the effectiveness of cardiac telemedicine within primary care.
The 6-month pilot** across Lancashire and South Cumbria demonstrated potential savings of 90,000 A&E visits and 45,000 Hospital Admissions with an estimated saving to the NHS of £46M per year. The 12-month pilot*** across Greater Manchester covering 3,732 patients demonstrated a reduction in referrals to hospital - outpatient departments - of some 60%.
According to Broomwell, translated nationally, across some 10,500 surgeries, this equates to 432,000 referrals prevented per annum and, together with the saved referrals to A&E / Admissions, the figures amount to 520,000 saved referrals with a financial saving of some £100M annually.
Broomwell's cardiac telemedicine service has won the HSJ 2007 National Award for Improving Care with e-Technology, the NHS North West Health & Social Care Award 2008 for 'Innovative Information & Communications Technology' and the Health Business Tele-Health Award 2008.
For more information on Broomwell Healthwatch's telemedical services visit www.broomwellhealthwatch.com.
* The full report is available from the Department of Health website, visit, http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_085825
** The full report is available from the website of the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Cardiac Network, visit http://www.lsccardiacnetwork.nhs.uk
*** The full report is available from the website of the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Cardiac Network, visit http://www.gmccardiacnetwork.nhs.uk
About BroomWell Healthwatch
The company was established in 2004 to provide telemedical monitoring services to GPs, Walk-in Centres, Community Hospitals and private individuals. Broomwell's solutions include the wristwatch-like MiniClinic, which is linked to the company's monitoring centre by a home base station, 12-lead portable ECGs, and weight control solutions for congestive heart failure. These are supported by Broomwell's 24-hour cardiac monitoring centre, which is staffed by experienced cardiology-trained clinicians giving immediate, expert interpretation of ECGs.