Etc., the digital and startup incubation hub of BT Group, has announced the second phase of its NHS digital preventative remote care initiative as CES starts. The initiative, explained in a blog by Neal Herman, HealthTech Director at Etc, will be piloted among 228,000 patients across 26 surgeries located in Warrington, Cheshire.
The initiative was developed jointly with NHS Cheshire and Merseyside. Its initial focus is on cardiovascular disease. In the first phase, the team believes that it has already prevented 30 potential events from 1,090 patients across seven GP surgeries. Over the next three years, it hopes to prevent over 80 heart attacks through early monitoring and intervention.
The app enables patients to upload different vitals, including such things as Pulse, oxygen levels (SpO2) and blood pressure, for clinicians to review without having the patient book a specific appointment. Clinicians can review the metrics and proactively alert patients to discuss lifestyle changes and preventative measures. Herman estimates that the initiatives could save £1.5 million for the NHS over the next three years. Perhaps more importantly, he noted, “It aspires to prevent 150,000 strokes, heart attacks and dementia cases over the next decade.”
That 150,000 is part of the NHS Long Term plan that states it wants to improve patient care by “preventing 150,000 heart attacks, strokes and dementia cases.” The initiative will also help contribute to another objective, “providing education and exercise programmes to tens of thousands more patients with heart problems, preventing up to 14,000 premature deaths.”
The initiative is targeted at providing advice early, so that more patients are aware of the issues they potentially face and can make changes to lifestyle to mitigate the risk.
Smart Practice
Etc., also offers a Smart Practice Solution that helps practices reduce the administration burden, freeing up more time for clinical work. The telephony solution includes VOIP telephony with support for physical and softphones. Surgeries can self-manage their IVR call flow and auto attendant settings. It includes a call back and call recording facility and also supports SMS messaging and real-time analytics.
These features help practices to deliver the right care at the right time to patients and alleviate some of the pressure in healthcare. Patients are also able to book appointments, tests and request medication.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
The wider BT Group works extensively with the NHS in the UK. It will also be present at CES, and it will hope to gauge interest in the international market. The BT group already offers virtual ward and care programmes to support the NHS. As well as AI and digital diagnosis services to help speed up diagnosis and unlock the benefits of AI for more hospitals.
What is missing from this announcement are details of the wider rollout plans from Etc. When can other surgeries look to take advantage of this? Also there is no initial feedback from those surgeries already using the application. How easy was it to use, what time savings did it achieve by having the digital information available, and did patients respond to both the digital and proactive approach?
