EG CheckWare has entered into an agreement for a “Form Solution” with Sykehuspartner. It is designed to handle up to 10,000 patients annually. It is essential for us to address the needs in the digital home monitoring area as expressed by the healthcare providers, say the project managers at Sykehuset Innlandet and Oslo University Hospital.
The “Form Solution” agreement applies to patients at Sykehuset Innlandet HF (SIHF) and Oslo University Hospital (OUSHF). It is managed by Sykehuspartner. EG CheckWare won the mini-competition, which is part of the “Framework Agreement for Tool Providers within Digital Home Monitoring”. Other health trusts under the framework agreement will gradually have the opportunity to connect.
For the hospitals, it is natural that the healthcare providers communicate what they need help solving.
– The most important thing for us is that CheckWare’s solution naturally becomes part of a toolbox we offer, where the professional communities themselves have helped define the needs. We assist them in finding adaptable solutions, which is the biggest advantage of this procurement. This distinguishes us from other technology implementation projects where there is more often an experience of coming with rigid solutions, says senior advisor Anna Kirkebø Harmens at Oslo University Hospital. She is sub-project manager for Technology in the “OUS Home” project.
– Some professional environments and healthcare personnel may raise alarm bells and wave red flags with questions about what we have actually purchased; what is coming now and what is this going to be used for? Is this something we are going to be forced into? Our approach is entirely different. There will be no solutions imposed on the employees. Here, there will be opportunities to address the needs that the professionals have, says Erlend Høen Laukvik, project manager for digital home monitoring at Sykehuset Innlandet.
Quality weighs heaviest
The chosen solution will collect patient-reported data in the form of digital forms, both validated/rights-protected and self-developed. The customer should therefore be able to create forms within the solution themselves.
Erlend Laukvik believes such solutions help define how Norway will run hospitals going forward.
– Those of us who have not yet had a solution with this functionality for somatics continue to experience the demands and needs. There are people who have started with half-digital home follow-up services, using systems completely unsuitable for this purpose. The fact that we now have a solution that enables proper digital home follow-up is important! Several professional environments have been waiting for a solution that naturally fits into our portfolio of tools we can use, he says.
Quality was decisive in the choice of CheckWare, according to the group that evaluated the offers. The secure and flexible solution supports, among other things, notifications to patients across all channels, but also options for insight for relatives. It allows flexible filtering and sorting as well as opportunities for general practitioners, relatives, teachers, and other relevant stakeholders to form a network around the patient in patient care.
Possible to send text and images
An important part is dialogue and exchange of images with the patient/relatives for certain treatment courses.
– This secure messaging functionality is highly sought after. Within digital home follow-up, these are areas generating great engagement, especially the possibilities for message exchange. Health professionals can then reduce the use of ad-hoc phones and instead set aside time a few times a week to respond to messages. We also foresee fewer trips to the hospital, as patients can send in images in advance that are evaluated by the practitioner, says Anna Kirkebø Harmens.
According to Laukvik, it is paramount to tone down the focus on technology.
– The possibility of establishing a secure communication channel with patients has been a major wish in the clinic. Many unsuitable solutions are being worked on, and there is a need to bring this communication into a safe and good channel where it is consolidated. We work a lot to highlight the positive changes in work processes and tone down the technology. I feel that to a large extent this has been achieved in the field of digital home follow-up and that, not least, the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority is good at exchanging good experiences with work processes, including organization, he says.
Senior advisor Anna Kirkebø Harmens believes it is not so difficult to convince professionals that digital solutions can help them follow up patients better and more intelligently.
– It’s not technology for technology’s sake; it’s us as a project presenting the digital opportunities. Then it’s up to the clinics to consider how they can utilize them, including what they actually intend to achieve. We as a project can help measure the effects, what they actually accomplish over time, she believes.
In the long term, the form solution is expected to handle around 10,000 patients annually in total for the two health trusts. Increased use of the solution is expected throughout the contract period, and that the volume will increase with the number of health trusts that may activate the option in the framework agreement.
