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Digital portal for citizens with heart failure

Denmark Distance monitoring
In the Future Patient project, a digital portal Hjerteportalen.dk has been developed. On the portal, the citizen can see information about having heart failure in text, images and sound. Both citizens and healthcare professionals can see data on: blood pressure, heart rate, weight, steps, breathing and sleep patterns, as well as communicating digitally. The project is in pilot within North Denmark Region and Central Region Denmark.
The main effects of the solution are that citizens with heart failure through telerehabilitation experience increased their quality of life and receive a more individual organized rehabilitation. They also become better at mastering their own disease using new technology, and increase their daily physical activity using digital pedometer.
The users are patients suffering from heart failure.
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Quotes/testimonials

“It has been a huge improvement for my wellbeing to become part of the project. The first time some data came that was deviant, I was contacted immediately. It was a great security to find that someone was keeping an eye on my data. Before I joined Future Patient, I was just alone at home waiting to be called to the outpatient clinic. It made me scared.”

— Tina Hede Møller, patient

Elaboration

Needs and challenges

Being a patient with heart failure can be a very stressful situation as it is difficult for the patients to know how their current health status is.

Usually patients are monitored once a year at a hospital and between visits their situation can change drastically.

Solution and function

Using an online platform, patients have ongoing follow-up and their treatment can be monitored as needed, and not only once a year.

Among others patients measure blood pressure, weight and sleep patterns, and health professionals can act if needed.

Implementation

The solution is still running as a project and is not yet implemented, but are in pilot within North Denmark Region and Central Region Denmark where patients and health care professionals actively are taking part of the implementation.

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Economy

There are costs related to buying the technical equipment and training the patients. The solution aims at improving the patient’s quality of life and overall health status, which is likely to reduce hospitalizations. It however does increase the work load for the health professionals as ongoing monitoring of their patient’s data is added.

Overall the solution decreases the hospital activity, as the patients use of expensive care decreases with improved health.

Process

The biggest change is that patients will take an active part in their disease monitoring, and learn how to measure and be aware of symptoms.

Workflow for the health care professionals are more or less the same, except they will have to be aware of patients ongoing data.

Communication

Patients and health professionals will communicate as they normally would, but perhaps more frequent as the measures are now being followed.

Patients can use the online platform as a diary to type in how they feel.

More about effects

The main effect of the solution is that it improves the quality of life for patients and makes them more secure and less afraid of their disease and symptoms.

Any changes in their health state will be detected and early signs of deterioration will be discovered. This gives the patient and health professionals the opportunity to take care of the symptoms and avoid that it gets worse.

Learnings

  • The patients will need to be capable of taking measurements and possess basic IT skills.  

This specific solution can be used for patients with heart failure, but it can easily be adjusted to fit other patient categories who can benefit from ongoing follow-up.  

Birthe Dinesen 
Leader of Future Patient 
bid@hst.aau.dk 
20 51 59 44 

Future Patients 
Hjerteportal (The heart portal) 

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