Inhealthcare has successfully bid for an NHS contract to support the scaling up and mainstreaming of remote monitoring services across Scotland.
The contract supports the Scottish Government’s Digital Health and Care Strategy to transform and enhance the health and wellbeing of citizens through the use of digital technology.
Under the three-year agreement, the Inhealthcare will provide the technology to enable citizens to record relevant information in the comfort of their own homes and relay readings to NHS teams for analysis.
The tried-and-tested approach will help citizens play a greater role in the management of their health and support clinicians in their diagnosis, treatment and care decisions.
Advantages for patients include better access to service, less time spent travelling to and from appointments and increased confidence and capacity to self-manage conditions and care.
The benefits for health and care services include better availability of data to assist early intervention, greater adherence to treatment, enhanced provision of care, productivity gains from less travel, more timely face-to-face contact with patients, more effective and efficient use of NHS resources and reduced hospital admissions.
The Inhealthcare remote monitoring service will help citizens to access and participate in a wide range of local health and care services in primary, ambulatory and community settings.
It enables ‘asynchrous’ consultation, where patients and professionals exchange information at different times, which can reduce waiting times for specialist care and help avoid unnecessary referrals.
The technology is being deployed across Scotland’s health boards, with patients typically receiving a message prompting them to record health readings. They submit these readings via a choice of fully inclusive communication channels, from mobile app to landline telephone.
The service analyses readings and trends against a baseline and generates alerts and follow-on messaging when appropriate. Clinicians can review the readings and history and assess the individual’s condition.
The service can also be used to manage illnesses including hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, heart disease, diabetes, depression, malnutrition, cancer and Covid.
Bryn Sage, chief executive officer at Inhealthcare, said: “Just as digital technology was at the forefront of our response to the pandemic, it will be central to how we rebuild and remobilise the health and social care system as part of the recovery from Covid.
“It was a pleasure to work with NHS National Services Scotland during this process and we look forward to delivering life-changing services for the people of Scotland. I am very proud of our team’s inspirational efforts to support the NHS.”
This is not the first occasion where Inhealthcare have made their presence felt within the NHS, after their technology platform was integrated with NHS login last year, making it simple for patients to use its digital health services.
They also played a key role in the pandemic response with their Oximetry @ Home Service, which enabled remote monitoring of people with confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19.