National Health Service Hospitals Use Data Integration Apps

While many providers in the US are still struggling with selecting and deploying apps, the UK National Health Service trusts are ready to use them to collect vital data.

According to the New Scientist, the four National Health Services serving the United Kingdom are rolling out two apps which help patients monitor their health at home. Both of the apps, which are being tested at four hospitals in Oxfordshire, UK, focus on management of a disease state.

One, called GDm-health, helps manage the treatment of gestational diabetes, which affects one in 10 pregnant women. Women use the app to send each of their blood glucose readings to the clinician monitoring their diabetes. The Oxford University Institute of Biomedical Engineering led development of the app, which has allowed patients to avoid needless in-person visits. In fact, the number of patient visits has dropped by 25%, the article notes.

The other app, which was also developed by the Institute, helps patients manage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which affects between 1 million and 1.5 million UK patients. COPD patients check their heart rate and blood oxygen saturation every day, entering each result into the app.

After collecting three months of measurements, the app “learns” to recognize what a normal oxygen sat level is for that patient. Because it has data on what is normal for that patient, it will neither alert clinicians too often nor ignore potential problems. During initial use the app, which already been through a 12-month clinical trial, cut hospital admissions among this population by 17% and general practitioner visits by 40%.

NHS leaders are also preparing to launch a third app soon. The technology, which is known as SEND, is an iPad app designed to collect information on hospital patients. As they make their rounds, nurses will use the app to input data on patients’ vital signs. The system then automatically produces an early warning score for each patient, and provides an alert if the patient’s health may be deteriorating.

One might think that because UK healthcare is delivered by centralized Trusts, providers there don’t face data-sharing problems in integrating data from apps like these. But apparently, we would be wrong. According to Rury Holman of the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, who spoke with New Scientist, few apps are designed to work with NHS’ existing IT systems.

“It’s a bit like the Wild West out there with lots of keen and very motivated people producing these apps,” he told the publication. “What we need are consistent standards and an interface with electronic patient records, particularly with the NHS, so that information, with permission from the patients, can be put to use centrally.”

In other words, even in a system providing government-delivered, ostensibly integrated healthcare, it’s still hard to manage data sharing effectively. Guess we shouldn’t feel too bad about the issues we face here in the US.

About the author

Anne Zieger

Anne Zieger is a healthcare journalist who has written about the industry for 30 years. Her work has appeared in all of the leading healthcare industry publications, and she's served as editor in chief of several healthcare B2B sites.

   

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