Texting to channel better health

VARs and other providers should promote remote monitoring technology to the NHS, suggests Andrew Litt

Medical schools have estimated that the lion's share of treatment costs spent by the NHS is for managing chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart failure, high blood pressure and asthma.

The return on that investment can be meagre. Even with the best care, many patients enjoy only minor improvements.

One reason is that the progression of many of these chronic conditions is tied to lifestyle and whether or not the patient complies with advice about medication, monitoring, and other changes. Nothing doctors do can make up for a lack of self care.

However, the digital age has offered us mobile technologies that can increase patient compliance with prescribed regimes as well as make changes to their lifestyle.

Bluetooth can enable communication with medical monitoring devices, such as blood pressure cuffs. Information transmitted to a mobile phone can communicate that automatically to the physician.

Transmitted data can be monitored automatically, enabling text messages to be sent back to the patient with useful advice or instructions. Preset coaching advice, based on a diet and exercise plan, can also be communicated this way.

Customised messages can be stored and cued up to send automatically at certain times of day. Clinicians can be alerted when readings are dangerously high or low, nabling them to quickly intervene. Patients can receive targeted information and specific instructions at the optimum time. This means they are more likely to follow through.

In most cases of non-compliance with medical advice, patients lack access to the right information at the right time. Electronic coaching includes immediate feedback, including positive reinforcement.

If you want to improve something, you need to begin by knowing how you are currently performing. Measurement of all kinds of metrics can be extremely useful, especially when the results can be communicated quickly.

For patients with multiple conditions and complex treatment regimes, text reminders can reduce confusion and increase the likelihood that the right medication will be taken at the right time and dose. Clinical trials have shown that remote monitoring and coaching can not only improve health, but reduce expensive hospital stays.

Slashing the number of days even one patient spends in hospital can cut costs by thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds. All food for thought for the channel provider targeting the healthcare sector.

Andrew Litt is the chief medical officer in the healthcare and life sciences technology division at Dell