GPs should embrace telehealth as a way to reduce their workload burden and improve patient services, Ann Wagner, director of strategy and business development at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, has said.
Speaking at the recent Rural Health Network conference, ‘ Challenging Times - One Year On: Working together to deliver effective rural health services', Ms Wagner told GPs that they could reduce home visits and provide patients with instant access to specialist care if they adopted new technology.
Showcasing her Trust's use of telehealth, Ms Wagner said that a 12-month pilot in care homes had reduced:
- Admissions by 45%
- Length of stay by 30%
- Bed days by 60%
In a pilot of 26 COPD patients at home, using teleconsultations had reduced:
- A&E admissions by 45%
- Bed days by 50%
- Length of stay by 9%.
She said: "We could be closing hospital wards because of this technology. GPs should see technology as a way to pull in extra support quickly."
In addition, telehealth can help GPs reduce home visits. In her presentation, Ms Wagner quoted one patient who had used telehealth, as saying: "The telehealth hub came into its own last Winter. Having visual contact with the team was very reassuring. At the press of a button, we have face to face contact with a medical team."
To GPs that are unsure of the potential contribution of telehealth, Ms Wagner says: "In the NHS we wait for permission to do new things. But politicians want solutions.... So, just do it! No-one will die because of telehealth. The alternative, to ring an ambulance, is still there."
Presentations from the Rural Health Conference can be found here.
---
Autor(en)/Author(s): Ailsa Colquhoun
Quelle/Source: Dispensing Doctors' Association, 05.11.2013
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
