Advances in digital health intervention are set to change the landscape of health care provision with new technologies allowing patients to take control of their health and minimise unnecessary hospital admissions.
Harnessing the power of remote symptom monitoring (RSM) technology is the ambition of two new research projects awarded over $2.2 million in grants from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
The projects will evaluate the feasibility and impact of introducing remote monitoring devices to two cohorts of patients across South Australia – cancer patients and cardiac patients fitted with a pacemaker or defibrillator – to assess the health benefits and cost savings of this technology.
Annually, over 135,000 Australians undergo treatment with anticancer medications, resulting in an expenditure of roughly $3 billion. Whilst the treatment has significant survival benefits, up to 90% patients will experience some adverse effects, ranging in severity from minor to life-threatening. These adverse effects result in around 30,000 hospitalisations each year, equivalent to an estimated $154 million annually.
The ‘Electronic Patient REPorted Outcome MeAsures for REmote Symptom Monitoring’ (The PREPARES Implementation study) project led by
Dr Ganessan Kichenadasse, from the College of Medicine and Public Health and SA Health, will trial the use of remote monitoring of side effects in cancer patients receiving treatment.
Recent studies have demonstrated that unplanned admissions to hospitals for cancer patients can be significantly reduced with the use of technologies such as remote symptom monitoring where patients can report their own symptoms digitally.
“One of the major challenges to people with cancer is recognising that symptoms are severe enough to warrant reporting to their care team, and then having rapid access to specialist and general physician services for diagnosis and timely management of symptoms.
“Electronic patient-reported symptom monitoring provides an opportunity to identify those patients who have worsening symptoms, initiate contact by health care providers and provide early treatment, thereby improving health outcomes and reducing unscheduled hospital admissions,” says Dr Kichenadasse.
The project will be rolled out using South Australia’s digital health platform for people with cancer undergoing any systemic cancer treatment in public hospitals.
The ‘Remote monitoring of cardiac implantable electronic devices using an exception-based model of care’ project led by Professor Anand Ganesan, from the College of Medicine and Public Health and SA Health Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN), will trial the remote monitoring technology for patients fitted with a pacemaker or defibrillator.
“The use of pacemakers and defibrillators represents one of the most clinically important cardiology procedures,” says Professor Ganesan.
“Following their fitting, ongoing analysis of the device and the patient’s health is an important aspect of clinical after care, and patients are routinely scheduled for in-office checks, typically 6-12 monthly, by cardiologists or allied health professionals.
“In the past two decades, remote monitoring of these devices has emerged as an alternative method of care for following-up patients, with a series of trials demonstrating the efficacy and safety of remote monitoring compared to in-office.
“Whilst it might not be suitable for every patient, remote monitoring equips doctors with data for correct diagnosis and treatment and reduces the amount of time taken to detect abnormalities in heart rhythm. For patients, the technology provides them with the safety of sharing important information about their medical condition directly to the doctor,” says Professor Ganesan.
The research projects will explore if the safe implementation of remote monitoring can be as effective as current models of care. If successful, remote monitoring could be more widely implemented helping to identify potential problems earlier, making them easier to treat, helping to reduce the number of hospitalisations, improve patient health and reduce health costs.
The ‘Electronic Patient REPorted Outcome MeAsures for REmote Symptom Monitoring’ (The PREPARES Implementation study) project involves other researchers from Flinders University and University of South Australia, and Cancer Services throughout South Australia.
The ‘Remote monitoring of cardiac implantable electronic devices using an exception-based model of care’ involves other researchers from Flinders University, The University of Queensland, SA Health, Queensland Health. Sunshine Coast University Hospital, Royal Perth Hospital, Flinders Medical Centre and John Hunter Hospital.
The Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) is providing grants of financial assistance to support health and medical research and innovation, with the objective of improving the health and wellbeing of Australians.