The Care Services Minister has announced the NHS will get £400 million to give carers like the spouses, parents and children of chronically ill patients a break - and telehealth can help. Telehealth Solutions' HomePod is an iPad-like device patients can use to measure vital signs, answer symptom questionnaires and send the results to a nurse.
A nurse or doctor can review their results, and even receive text and email alerts if the patient needs attention. It means problems can be detected before they become dangerous, preventing a hospital admission or ambulance call-out. 'Outcomes of Chronic Heart Failure' study (PMID: 12578516) found it saved over £200,000 by avoiding hospital admissions and reducing length of stay for those admitted. No amount of home visits can match the level of information that a HomePod can provide, and a user can view the patient's results anytime, anywhere. A carer can go on a break and know that the HomePod will be there to keep their loved one safe. They could even be allowed to view the results like a doctor or nurse would.
Jeremy Cummin, Telehealth Solutions' Executive Chairman, "The HomePod is about giving people their lives back, with less time in hospital, more time at home and fewer health emergencies. That goes beyond just the patients themselves. It's also their loved ones, their carers and their families. If the NHS wants to improve the lives of patients and carers alike, this is the way to do it."
Related news articles:
- Telehealth Solutions' Profile
About Telehealth Solutions
Telehealth Solutions was founded in 2006 to bring the convergence of technology and changing clinical practice to the benefit of patients and clinicians. The company has grown rapidly and now has 20 employees who are dedicated to providing the most secure, scalable and robust methods for collecting information from patients, without the need for clinical intervention, and getting that information into the hands of the clinicians and carers who are looking after those patients.
Products in the THSL portfolio, which is explained in-depth on the firm's website www.thsl.co.uk, include:
- HomePod
- CardioPod
- SurgeryPod
- Check-in Pod
- CarePod
The Department of Health states that telehealth is the remote delivery of healthcare using electronic means of communication usually patient to clinician. For example, a patient measuring their vital signs at home and this data being transmitted via a telehealth monitor to a clinician. The principal benefits of telehealth are enabling great professional focus on patients, reducing anxiety, anticipating and, therefore, avoiding crisis admissions to hospital and improving medication compliance. The patient also becomes more informed about their daily health and is an active partner in their own healthcare. This use of technology is particularly good for remote and rural areas.