A remote patient monitoring service is set to be implemented in care homes across north east London, to connect facilities with family doctors.
The remote service – called the Inhealthcare Professional app – will support clinicians in identifying patients that may need interventions, while also keeping residents safely at home and helping to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.
Inhealthcare’s technology will be rolled out in up to 215 care homes across areas such as Barking and Dagenham, City and Hackney, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.
The app will allow care home staff to take vital signs from residents and submit the data for automatic triage, with an alert system notifying GPs if there are any readings that fall out of the normal range.
Osman Bhatti, a GP in Tower Hamlets and Chief Clinical Information Officer for the East London Health and Care Partnership, said: “The roll out of remote patient monitoring in care homes is a critical programme of work to connect our primary care networks with care home residents.
“It will empower care home staff and enable early intervention in the care of vulnerable residents – helping us to closely manage their health and reduce avoidable hospital admissions.”
While, Bryn Sage, chief executive of Inhealthcare, added: “This new service bridges the gap between care home residents and doctors in a time of lockdowns and reduced face-to-face interactions.
“This simple and safe technology enables clinicians to spot the early warning signs of health deterioration and take the right steps to support the health and wellbeing of patients at home.”
Both clinicians and care home managers will be able to access the Inhealthcare Dashboard to see a more complete overview of the health status of a facility’s residents.
The service also uses the standardised National Early Warning Score 2 system, which scores measurements such as respiration and pulse rates, oxygen saturation, systolic blood pressure, level of consciousness and temperature.
In addition, care homes are supplied with other tools to complement the service, for example, blood pressure and blood glucose monitors, where necessary.
