The Journal of mHealth Vol 2 Issue 2 (Apr 2015) | Page 33

Using Digital Solutions for Condition Management

Using Digital Solutions for
Condition Management
By Keith Nurcombe
Keith Nurcombe has worked in healthcare for over twenty years spending the last few years working with businesses in
the health and technology space, most recently building O2 Health where he was Managing Director until the end of
2012, since then he has been providing consultancy services to businesses.
So now we get to a place where digital health solutions are really starting to
change the way that patients manage their
health and the way that healthcare is delivered to patients in lots of different countries. It has taken a while – in fact far too
long to get the traction it has, but things are
starting to really roll forward. I think the
testament of this is to look at a couple of
conditions to see how digital management
has really changed the way patients manage
their health in this new digital world.
COPD
Traditionally these patients can become
very unstable as their condition worsens
requiring regular unplanned admissions to
hospital which is very expensive and not
ideal for the patient. On average this occurs
three times a year, at a cost to the provider
of over £10,000, which is on top of the
other associated care costs for the patient.
So how does a digital healthcare world
change this scenario – here’s how!
The patient downloads an application for
their smartphone or their tablet, which
gives them a bespoke self-management
tool designed to help them manage their
day-to-day life with COPD. The solution
asks questions, captures readings from
peripheral devices and records patient
entered information in order to deliver a
tailored self-care management system for

the patient. It also helps them with their
medication reminders, records inhaler
usage, how well the inhalers are used and
manages exercise and other lifestyle measurements. All of this information is then
combined to help the patient better manage their condition and allows healthcare
professionals with access to the information to make educated and appropriate
decisions. Over time, the system starts
to understand patterns within the patient
journey and how their condition changes.
This allows the healthcare professional
to identify issues before they arise and
potentially prevent the patient from being
admitted to hospital.
The savings for the patient and the
healthcare providers, derived from these
reductions in admissions can be huge –
potentially saving 50% of the cost of
COPD hospital admissions, in a year, in
return for a very small outlay in technology and digital healthcare solutions.
Warfarin Management
Traditionally, a large number of patients
are prescribed warfarin for various heart
conditions. As a result of this, patients are
required to attend their local hospital or
GP surgery, on a monthly basis (or more
frequently), to have their blood taken to
test their INR level (a measure of the
rate at which blood clots), wait a week for
the results and then go back to see a GP

and have their medication intake levels
adjusted accordingly. This process takes a
long time and is not ideal for either the
patient or the healthcare professional.
So how does a digital healthcare world
change this – here’s how!
The patient takes a finger-prick blood
test at home which returns a rapid result,
with a colour-coded level representative
of their INR level. They then upload that
result to an application on their mobile
phone or tablet which can then immediately be shared with their healthcare professional. The healthcare professional can
then contact the patient to inform them
whether they should maintain the same
dosage or whether there needs to be an
adjustment made to their medication.
The result is a seamless medical management experience for the patient and a
reduction of costs for the healthcare provider of around 75%. This model is being
rolled out across a number of hospitals
in the NHS, in the UK, very successfully.
These are just a couple of small examples
of the many new digital healthcare solutions that are being delivered and offered
throughout health and social ca