Heart failure (HF) is a common chronic disease with an estimated global prevalence of approximately two per cent. In Denmark, approximately 9000 patients are diagnosed with HF each year. The prevalence of HF is, however, expected to rise in the future due to, among others, a higher prevalence hypertension, diabetes and obesity but also due to the increased longevity of patients with HF.
In this study 274 heart failure patients were provided with a Telekit consisting of a tablet, a digital blood pressure monitor, and a scale and were instructed to perform measurements one to two times a week. Within the 1-year follow-up, the group receiving the telehealthcare solution had a consistently lower resource consumption across all healthcare cost categories compared with the group receiving usual care.
The main conclusion of the Vestergaard et al study is, that RPM solutions for monitoring HF was highly cost-effective, corresponding to a reduction in total healthcare costs by 35%. Thus, there were significant cost savings on hospitalizations, primary care contacts and total costs.
Read the research paper
In a fast response to the Corona crisis, the Norwegian Municipalities of Gjerdrum and Ullensaker, among others, have implemented a telehealth solution to help them monitor and provide safe surveillance of COVID-19 patients or patients in risk of serious COVID-19 symptoms. The solution, COVID-19 telemedicine, is provided by Danish company OpenTeleHealth and Siemens Healthineers and it is an important tool in the fight against COVID-19. It also increases healthcare efficiency in these difficult times.
Telemedicine is used to treat and monitor chronically ill persons in their own homes. The purpose is to promote coping with one’s own health situation, prevent, detect, and treat the worsening of the disease. The benefits of telemedicine are already well documented but during the last couple of weeks, it has become apparent that telemedicine is a necessity in the fight against COVID-19.
To reduce the risk of exposure for the valuable healthcare staff, the solution offers web-based healthcare staff training, which is available for large scale roll-out.
Levvel Health ApS
Savsvinget 7, DK-2970 Hørsholm, Denmark
+45 7071 3383
contact@levvel.health
VAT NO.: 41230134
Co-funded by the Horizon 2020 of the European Union
