U.K. report reveals great potential for telemedicine
The U.K. Department of Health’s Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) program to study the effects of telemedicine has yielded positive results so far, according to a December report.
The WSD program’s purpose is to determine whether the use of telemedicine could help the healthcare system better accommodate individual patients’ needs.
“To make decisions, people need information and care services that respond to their needs, not the other way around," the report stated. "We want to make sure that people have access to services and information that help them make their own decisions and one way of doing this would be to enable people to get real-time. This is what assistive technology such as telehealth and telecare can do.”
The program, which launched in May 2008 involving 6,191 patients and 238 practices, allowed providers to interpret telemedicine as they wished and to implement telemedicine procedures that would suit their needs.
While the report did not provide analysis of patients’ responses to the WSD program, it did outline treatment outcomes stating, “The early indications show that if used correctly, telehealth can deliver a 15 percent reduction in accident and emergency (A&E) visits, a 20 percent reduction in emergency admissions, a 14 percent reduction in elective admissions, a 14 percent reduction in bed days and an 8 percent reduction in tariff costs. Most strikingly, they also demonstrate a 45 percent reduction in mortality rates.”
Based on the results of the WSD program, the U.K. Department of Health will launch the “Three Million Lives” campaign, an initiative that will encourage healthcare professionals to use telemedicine to target three million patients with long-term healthcare needs.
Although an analysis of patients’ responses was not provided, more results on the WSD program will be published in the future.
The report is available in its entirety here.
The WSD program’s purpose is to determine whether the use of telemedicine could help the healthcare system better accommodate individual patients’ needs.
“To make decisions, people need information and care services that respond to their needs, not the other way around," the report stated. "We want to make sure that people have access to services and information that help them make their own decisions and one way of doing this would be to enable people to get real-time. This is what assistive technology such as telehealth and telecare can do.”
The program, which launched in May 2008 involving 6,191 patients and 238 practices, allowed providers to interpret telemedicine as they wished and to implement telemedicine procedures that would suit their needs.
While the report did not provide analysis of patients’ responses to the WSD program, it did outline treatment outcomes stating, “The early indications show that if used correctly, telehealth can deliver a 15 percent reduction in accident and emergency (A&E) visits, a 20 percent reduction in emergency admissions, a 14 percent reduction in elective admissions, a 14 percent reduction in bed days and an 8 percent reduction in tariff costs. Most strikingly, they also demonstrate a 45 percent reduction in mortality rates.”
Based on the results of the WSD program, the U.K. Department of Health will launch the “Three Million Lives” campaign, an initiative that will encourage healthcare professionals to use telemedicine to target three million patients with long-term healthcare needs.
Although an analysis of patients’ responses was not provided, more results on the WSD program will be published in the future.
The report is available in its entirety here.