NHS Scotland is rolling out a series of patient care pathways in a scaling up of its Connect Me programme for remote monitoring.
This is happening under a contract agreed last year, to run three to five years with a value of up to £2 million, with Inhealthcare to use its digital health platform in the programme.
A spokesperson for the company said that 23 care pathways are now either live or in development. They cover conditions including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression, hypertension, irritable bowel syndrome, and undernutrition.
The blood pressure monitoring service is expected to be one of the largest pathways of its kind and so far has supported more than 5,700 patients.
The extension comes after an evaluation found that Scotland’s remote health pathway for people with Covid-19 symptoms improved access to NHS services and could be safely rolled out to help others.
Patient digital choices
Patients can take part in the programme through a mobile app, website, text message or automated phone call. It can monitor the effect of starting or stopping treatments, issue reminders or encouragement, sport flare-ups, identify reasons why a conditions is not under control and offer advice and support in treatment plans.
The digital platform automates as many processes as possible in a pathway, releasing clinicians from the associated administrative tasks.
Bryn Sage, chief executive of Inhealthcare, said: “There are more than one million GP appointments per year in Scotland just for measuring blood pressure. By rolling out remote monitoring pathways for conditions such as hypertension, we are helping to create significant extra capacity within the healthcare system.”
