| Title: | Audit of the Covid-19 remote patient management programme in Ireland |
|---|---|
| Author(s): | C Edwards E Costello M Curley L Smyth C O'Seaghdha R Costello K O'Reilly |
| Institution: | patientMpower Ltd., HSE Digital Transformation, Beaumont Hospital, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital |
| Poster: | Click to view poster |
| Category: | COVID-19 |
| Abstract: | Ireland experienced a wave of Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) infection starting in February 2020 with 25,462 cases (527/100,000) by 30 June 2020. An important strategy to free up in-hospital capacity was development of capability to remotely manage Covid-19 in lower-risk patients with mild/moderate symptoms. patientMpower approached the HSE Digital Transformation team and external medical advisers with a design concept for a remote monitoring platform for Covid-19. This consists of a patient-facing app + pulse oximeter (Bluetooth-connected Nonin 3230) enabling patients to record symptoms (e.g. dyspnoea, diarrhoea) & oxygen saturation (SpO2). Patient-recorded data was viewed in real time by their healthcare centre via dedicated monitoring portal. Criteria for remote monitoring included: Covid-19 symptoms, positive for SARS-CoV-2, young age, absence of serious concomitant conditions, need for continued observation post-discharge. Treatment centres emailed app installation instructions to their patients. Between 13 March and 30 June 2020, 874 patients at 8 primary & 15 secondary care centres had been monitored remotely (median duration: 13 days). 778 patients (89%) gave consent to use of their pseudonymised data for research. Summary statistics from this cohort shown in Table. Remote monitoring of Covid-19 in appropriate patients can free up in-hospital capacity and provide data to support research. |
