TELEMOLD
Long Term Oxygen Therapy Telemonitoring System, with Pulido Valente Hospital
TELEMOLD - The Physical Activity and Optimisation of Long Term Oxygen Therapy Telemonitoring System is an innovative project, developed by the Pneumology Department of Pulido Valente Hospital and the Vodafone Portugal Foundation, will significantly improve the health related quality of life in patients with respiratory failure who are prescribed long term domiciliary oxygen therapy (LTOT).
The TELEMOLD system, by remotely monitoring of blood oxygen levels and patients’ physical activity while they go about their daily lives, will make it possible to optimise their oxygen prescription, with obvious advantages for the treatment and health related quality of life in patients.
Until now, the monitoring of patients and medical prescriptions have been undertaken by means of home visits by clinics, elective hospital admissions to record nocturnal oximetry and regular visits to hospital to undergo examinations and exercise tests.
The introduction of the TELEMOLD system will change procedures and bring significant benefits in three ways: to patients and their families, to physicians and to society.
For patients, in addition to continuous monitoring and accurate adjustment of their prescription from moment to moment, which will increase their quality of life and improve their prognosis, the system will avoid hospital stays and frequent hospital visits for assessments. There will also be benefits to patients’ families since patients often have to be accompanied because of their age or state of health.
For physicians, the system will produce a larger quantity of more reliable data which will enable them to analyse the patient’s condition and consequent oxygen needs with greater confidence, leading to more accurate adjustment of prescriptions. Additionally, each physician will be able to monitor a larger number of patients, including those who live far away and will now have the opportunity to be monitored by a specialized centre. In addition, an alert system will inform the physician of any irregular situations.
For the health system, TELEMOLD will help, among other things, to relieve the pressure on hospital emergency services and lead to a better match between financial resources and treatment needs. LTOT is a therapy that accounts for a significant percentage of the outpatient treatment costs of patients with chronic respiratory failure. In 2009, these costs were estimated to be 60 million euros.
Oxygen therapy consists on the administration of oxygen to increase its percentage in the breathed air. It may be administered temporarily in acute situations or in chronic situations - Long Term Oxygen Therapy (LTOT). It is estimated that over 25,000 patients in Portugal depend on LTOT to survive. This number is showing a rising trend due to factors such as the prevalence of smoking, increased pollution, the ageing of the population and increased infant survival of respiratory system diseases.
The investment in the TELEMOLD system is approximately 200,000 euros, entirely met by the Vodafone Portugal Foundation. In addition to software development, servers and training for physicians and nurses at the institutions involved, this amount also includes oximetry equipment, accelerometers, mobile phones and call costs for the 30 patients in the pilot phase.
The initial phase of TELEMOLD covers Pulido Valente Hospital, part of the North Lisbon Hospital Centre, where the implementation and validation of the system will take place. Subsequently, a Health Centre in the Northern Health Unit will be included and a plan will be drawn up to expand the Telemonitoring system to all the Unit’s Health Centres.
Partners: North Lisbon Hospital Centre
