Press Releases

Lisbon, 10 July 2006 – The pilot phase of ‘AirMed’ – a remote monitoring system for cardiac patients using mobile technology – is underway, following a co-operation agreement signed between the Vodafone Portugal Foundation and the Santa Marta Hospital.

Under the agreement, monitoring of the blood coagulation index of transplant patients is already in place. This index requires close monitoring, meaning regular measurements at short intervals of time, requiring patients to make regular visits to hospital.

The new facility is expected to reduce visits and the waiting time at the hospital to receive the results of analyses since both results and prescriptions are sent by mobile phone.

These messages are closely monitored by doctors and nurses using mobile technology, which provides automatic alerts of parameters outside the patient’s normal values.

The funding provided by the Vodafone Foundation is in excess of 150,000 euros and involves the development of an application to manage messages to patients, including a link to their medical records, purchase of blood coagulation index measurement equipment and all mobile communications for the project for one year.

This investment will have a much wider impact than the amount suggests since the Santa Marta Hospital draws patients from all over Portugal. Any reduction in travel is therefore of greater importance to patients who live far from Lisbon. In addition, the reduction in hours spent at the hospital will be reflected in the productivity indices of the general population.