Drayson Technologies has been informed that GDm-Health™, the smartphone-enabled solution for the management of women with or at high-risk of gestational diabetes, has been recommended for publication in the NHS Digital Tools Library, following an extensive review as part of the NHS Digital technical review process.
NHS Digital is commissioned by NICE to conduct technical reviews of digital services to ensure they are technically sound. The results are intended for consumption by NICE, contributing to their Health App Briefing (HAB) publication(s). Drayson Technologies is the exclusive partner for the commercialisation of various digital health products developed within innovative research programmes undertaken at the University of Oxford (OU) and the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH).
Hazel Jones, Programme Director – Apps & Wearables, NHS Digital comments: “Our ambition to provide greater digital choice for patients, citizens and clinicians has moved forward significantly with the introduction of key mobile apps and tools such as GDm-Health. Tapping into digital tools created by health specialists in the marketplace and applying the NHS Digital Assessment process means we can select the right tools to accelerate the delivery of a meaningful digital experience; all accessible via our NHS Apps Library. Our strategy is firmly fixed on leveraging mHealth innovation to provide better health and wellbeing outcomes, and GDm-Health is a perfect example of that.”
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as new onset or recognition of glucose intolerance in pregnancy which resolves following the birth. Current evidence supports tight blood glucose control to prevent adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. Finger-prick blood glucose (BG) testing with frequent clinic review remains the most common method of managing diabetes in pregnancy. GDM is largely managed by women recording their blood glucose (BG) results in paper diaries, typically 6 times a day regular review by doctors and midwives in clinic. This manual process, is time-consuming for both parties, but also exposes clinicians to the very real danger of transcription errors.
Women can now install the GDm-Health App and automatically collect their BG measurements using their smartphone, which can connect via Bluetooth or NFC (near field communication) to their BG monitor. These measurements, along with any text-based commentary the woman wishes to log, can be transmitted directly to the clinical team. As a result, clinicians get more time to focus on the woman’s care needs, rather than collecting and recording data, and the ability to prioritise care to women most at need, whilst maintaining at a glance oversight of their patient cohorts.
Lucy Mackillop, Consultant Obstetric Physician at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford and clinical lead for the development of GDm-Health comments: “GDm-health was developed to help support women manage their gestational diabetes better while reducing the number of hospital visits. The system has been evaluated and found to be safe and convenient for women. This system also facilitates more effective and efficient team based care with automated alerting and prioritisation and electronic capture of data for audit.”
GDm-Health has already been clinically evaluated in over 1,000 patients and has shown a 25% reduction in clinic visits, when evaluated at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust. Diabetes Specialist Midwife for the trust, Rachel Crowley comments: “The GDm-Health system has helped to transform the way we deliver care for women with diabetes in pregnancy. It is user-friendly, providing real-time patient data and an additional channel for communicating with them, reducing the time needed to analyse patient data, and generating a secure medical record without having to bring the patient to hospital. GDm-Health is a modern tool for modern medicine and has greatly enhanced the way in which we work.
