Next up, we have our finalists for excellence in remote monitoring.
ScienceSoft
Overview: ScienceSoft helped AKLOS Health deliver a wearable-based physiotherapy platform with a mobile app and a web app.
Why? The technology uses data from Xsens DOT wearable sensors to measure the range of movement (ROM) of patients’ joints and assess their therapy progress.
What happened? ScienceSoft analysed the market and competitors, interviewed stakeholders and studied patient needs. Based on this research the team elicited requirements and mapped out and prioritised features. ScienceSoft engineers then designed HIPAA-compliant architecture for the platform and implemented encryption for the data used, and established a secure data transfer. Within six months, the customers have received a fully functional MVP of the physiotherapy solution. Following user feedback, they have entrusted the software evolution to ScienceSoft. ScienceSoft have offered to develop algorithms tailored to the specifics of knee joints and low back mobility to improve the accuracy of the ROM sensors. The app measures the ROM of patients’ joints, then compares it with previous data and the target data set by therapists.
Looking to the future. The technology is designed to assist patients with need for physiotherapy in improving and monitoring their joint movement going forward.
FollowApp Care
Overview: FollowApp is a fully automated remote monitoring solution focused on dentistry.
Why? It aims to help people feel cared for and supported through their dentistry experiences, improving oral health across the UK.
What happened? FollowApp follows up with patients after dental appointments, making sure that everything is OK and that there are no issues. Dentists are alerted to any issues and can securely reply by two-way SMS straight to the FollowApp webpage. Alongside resolving patient issues, the team have extended the benefit dentists can see by capitalising on patient engagement. Patients are now prompted net promoter score requests, Google review prompts and appointment booking reminders. Whilst UK based, FollowApp has predominantly been international; in 2022, it has become available for up to 80 percent of the UK market through integration with major practice management systems for dentists. The team now work with customers representing 300 clinics in the UK. Benefits include increases in monthly net promoter responses, increases in Google reviews, additional revenue and increased patient engagement and satisfaction scores.
Looking to the future. FollowApp continues to make inroads into the UK market and continues its mission to improve oral health across the UK by supporting the patient experience.
Intelligent Lilli
Overview: Lilli’s sensor-based tech is designed around a preventative methodology. To help care practitioners better care for service users so that they can choose how and where they live their lives.
Why? Lilli is driven by the belief that regardless of medical conditions, ability or age, everyone has the right to maintain independence and dignity at home.
What happened? Lilli utilises machine learning to discreetly establish a service user’s normal pattern of behaviour through collection of data from sensors in the home. This data provides a baseline for what ‘normal’ looks like for that person, so that deviations from the norm can allow carers to step in before a condition escalates. This allows care providers to tailor provisions to the individual, with Lilli’s predictive analytics and behavioural data also providing social care managers with the evidence they need to make better decisions on allocation of resources. Lilli’s work has recently been demonstrated by a successful rollout in Nottingham, where Nottingham City Homes integrated Lilli into its Discharge to Assess pathway, and in North Tyneside, where the local council introduced the tech to reduce their care assessment waiting list and tackle oversubscription of care. Lilli is on target to achieve annualised savings of 780 hours of occupational therapy time and cost savings of £250,000.
Looking to the future. Lilli aims to help reduce the strain on the broader health and social care ecosystem for the future by transforming home care provision.
Islacare and Nottingham University Hospitals
Overview: Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) and Islacare are working together within neurology to help patients securely submit videos of their tremors and seizures to the clinical team for review.
Why? For years treatment of neurological conditions such as epilepsy has relied on patients attending regular clinic appointments to update the team on the way that their condition is changing.
What happened? Clinicians worked closely with Isla to implement the Isla Visual record and create a seamless mechanism for patients, parents and other family members or carers to regularly update the clinical team on progress. Isla’s web-based platform has been configured to send an SMS to patients or to the person who submitted on their behalf with a secure link to submit information. The process is fully automated with the patient receiving a new link each week. Over 480 patients have used Isla to monitor their Epilepsy at NUH in the past two years with more than 2,400 videos submitted to the platform by this cohort. Among the benefits, NUH note that it will help patients be diagnosed more quickly as they do not have to wait for appointments and enables them to progress along pathways in a more timely manner. It can also mitigate risks around information governance and data security by removing the need to manually store files.
Looking to the future. Isla and NUH say that their collaboration has helped patients to feel confident that the clinical team have sight of any important changes that they experience. Additionally, NUH note ongoing financial implications due to allowing patients to remain at home where appropriate.
Inhealthcare and the TEC Connect Me team
Overview: Inhealthcare works with the Scottish Government TEC team to deliver digital health services to citizens throughout Scotland.
Why? The project aimed to transform patient care and improve outcomes through remote monitoring and collaborative working.
What happened? The TEC Connect Me team and Inhealthcare have worked together to engage 12 Scottish health boards and develop 17 digital health pathways, including asthma, COPD and heart failure. The latest pathway is described as their “flagship” blood pressure service, supporting diagnosis and management of hypertension and is newly live in four health boards with over 1,200 people registered to date. The TEC Connect Me team has access to the Inhealthcare Toolkit which means that new services can be built in-house and components can be re-used, leading to development, testing and deployment of services at speed. They say that ensuring inclusivity has been key to success with many remote areas of Scotland facing connectivity issues; citizens can engage with services through SMS, app, portal or traditional telephone. Another key element of the work has been integration, with services currently integrating with the SCI Store and Docman. Evaluation of the COVID pathway was based on submitted readings, patient interviews and staff surveys, and found that patients had a positive experience, most would be happy to use it again, and staff felt supported and engaged.
Looking to the future. Planning has commenced to integrate the services with other key GP and hospital systems.
