Vital medical resources will be freed up in regional Victoria as Bendigo Health becomes one of the first hospitals in Australia to roll-out telemonitoring which will be used for suspected COVID-19 patients. It has been trialled with current geriatric patients to ensure its viability in the testing for readiness. The digital care application, teamplay myCare Companion ‘Pandemic’ delivered by one of the world’s leading medical technology companies Siemens Healthineers, allows clinicians to remotely prioritise and manage patients based on their clinical needs, and has the capability to be rolled out to any healthcare service across the country.
The cloud-based remote monitoring system, built on a proven secure platform, supplies doctors and nurses with a dashboard of daily updated symptoms and health vitals to remotely stay on top of their patients’ health. Symptom tracking and the use of monitoring devices, such as thermometers and pulse oximeters, will track whether the condition of the patient is deteriorating. This data will be collected and transmitted to the hospital via a secure network. The new solution also offers the remote care team the ability to securely communicate with the patient thus providing feedback and reassurance to patients who are being cared for while in home quarantine.
As hospitals across Australia continue to pivot their operations in preparation for a potential rise in COVID-19 patients, a critical resource concern remains the availability and access to beds in such a circumstance. In the worst-hit countries, hospitals have been overwhelmed and the contagious nature of Covid-19 has led to high rates of infections, as well as deaths, among healthcare workers. By enabling patients and supporting clinicians to manage cases at home, teamplay myCare Companion‘Pandemic’ will provide an infrastructure to alleviate pressure on essential facilities at Bendigo Health.
Bendigo Health is a 724-bed service that treats more than 49,000 inpatients on average each year, managing more than 52,000 emergency attendances in a catchment area that covers a quarter of the size of Victoria.
Professor Budge, the physician responsible for implementing Bendigo Health’s ‘Geri-Connect’ Service across the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria since 2017, will oversee delivery of the teamplay myCare Companion – ‘Pandemic solution’ at Bendigo Health. The Geri-Connect service currently provides in-person or telehealth assessments across more than 54 Residential Aged care facilities and 11 smaller regional Health services; many of whom had previously struggled to have any available Geriatrician input to their care. Professor Budge added: “During this crisis, the teamplay myCare Companion ‘Pandemic solution’ will facilitate in-home monitoring for the increased numbers of Australians requiring intensive health professional oversight whilst laying the basis for the future provision of virtual care and monitoring in the community after this pandemic.”
The teamplay myCare Companion ‘Pandemic’ application is built upon Siemens Healthineers teamplay myCare Companion chronic care[1]. teamplay myCare companion-chronic care[1], is designed to telemonitor patients with chronic heart failure at home. Professor Marc Budge, Geriatrician and Clinical Director of Integrated Care Services at Bendigo Health, said that the innovative remote monitoring solution will allow the hospital to provide the best possible medical care and advice to patients in the community while managing in-demand medical resources. “Australia is currently accelerating the provision of telehealth services to diagnose and care for patients in the community. Siemens Healthineers teamplay myCare Companion ‘Pandemic’ will provide a platform for Bendigo Health to more safely deliver patient care and support in the community whilst preserving inpatient beds for more serious presentations with COVID-19 infections. Importantly, we can also more effectively prevent hospital admission for those with chronic disease; a group at high risk of poorer outcomes in this pandemic” he said.
To enable hospitals across the country with potential access to the solution, the solution has been deployed in the cloud. This also means that implementation and subsequent use comes without additional burdens on hospital IT teams.
