Tele-medicine is the use of communications and information systems to conduct a clinical process remotely. Safe 21 will demonstrate how the existing social alarm infrastructure can be used to deliver a tele-medicine service to primary care professionals and their patients at home.
Social alarms make use of the telephone system to call for help in an emergency. A button is pressed on a special telephone which initiates an automatic telephone call to a control centre, where staff can establish the problem and send appropriate help. Control centres are manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Safe 21 will show how some patients can be cared for and monitored at home, via the control centre, rather than in hospital.
In essence, the system will allow routine monitoring of vital signs to be carried out at home, with the back up and reassurance of the control centre. Patients will be responsible for taking their own measurements of eg blood pressure, which are sent by a telephone line to the control centre. If the measurements are outside parameters set by the physician, the control centre will alert medical staff. For non-critical patients who need regular monitoring, the system provides the opportunity to stay at home rather than spend time in hospital.
How it works
The system comprises a well proven monitor, able to take the following measurements:
- temperature pulse oximetry
- respiration ECG
- non-invasive blood pressure
- pulse oxymetry
- ECG
The patient is taught how to apply the sensors and take a reading. The monitor automatically records the data, then sends the data via a dial up telephone line to the control centre.
If the measurements are within parameters defined by the physician the control centre simply logs the data.
If measurements are outside pre-defined parameters the physician is alerted, and provided with the log of the past history of readings.
If no measurements are received when scheduled, the control centre reminds the patient to take their measurements. If measurements are still not received the physician is alerted.
The physician can log on to the system from the hospital or surgery computer at any time to view the data received from patients.
The tele-medicine system has the potential to allow some patients who are admitted to hospital for routine or precautionary monitoring, to stay in their own home. Initial trials will be conducted with post-stroke, post-cardiac and hypertension patients, and people with lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and apnoea.
It provides an alternative to a district nurse or doctor having to visit a person's home several times a day to take precautionary measurements. Staff can view and interpret the data from the computer in the surgery or hospital, rather than spending time travelling to collect it.
The control centre simply acts as a monitoring station, which reports to a physician if there is any exception in the measurements. All medical decisions are made by medical staff.
The tele-medicine system goes into
trials in late 1998.
Different levels of user interfaces for user, advanced user and physician, using an illuminated display.
Simple interactive help messages on the visual display ensure that the user is able to take valid measurements.
Safe 21 will demonstrate how the existing social alarm infrastructure can be used to deliver a much broader range of services for people who are living alone. The project runs 1997-1999 with trials of equipment from late 1998.