Inhealthcare announces update to anticoagulation digital monitoring service
4S DAWN’s software integrates with Inhealthcare’s system to enhance clinical efficiency
Inhealthcare has announced an update to its self-monitoring service for warfarin patients at County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust (CDDFT).
The digital service is now integrated with 4S DAWN’s anticoagulation software. This enables results from self-monitoring warfarin patients at home to be made immediately available to the warfarin clinic team.
The integration removes the need for a nurse to manually enter the patient’s test results into the DAWN AC software, makes calculating the dose even quicker, reduces admin for the NHS anticoagulation team, and allows nurses more time for clinical care.
The International Normalised Ratio (INR) self-monitoring service, powered by Inhealthcare, reminds the remote user to take a finger-prick blood sample and insert it into a self-testing device to measure their INR. The patient then securely sends their new INR reading to the local clinic at their chosen time and via their communication of choice; such as a pre-arranged phone call or by going online. 4S DAWN’s anticoagulation software automatically calculates the patient’s new warfarin dose for it to be checked and confirmed by a nurse. Finally the dose is relayed back to the patient and fed directly into their medical records by Inhealthcare’s system.
“Integrating DAWN AC with Inhealthcare’s system means we can help healthcare professionals streamline their work and reduce the risk of administrative and potentially clinical errors. We are delighted that this integration at CDDFT is benefiting both patients and healthcare professionals and believe that this model can be applied to the wider UK warfarin community with the potential to improve the safety and efficiency of the self-testing patient population,” said Syd Stewart, founder and managing director of 4S DAWN.
4S DAWN and Inhealthcare’s INR self-testing service gives patients greater responsibility to manage their condition by allowing them to self test at home without the burden of attending regular clinics. Importantly, patients still feel fully supported as clinicians are available on a supplied helpline, and are notified to make contact if a patient is unresponsive to test requests. The service is already treating 450 patients in the Durham and Darlington region and has improved patients’ time in therapeutic range (TTR) by 15%, reducing their risk of a thrombotic event. Since March 2013 the service has also delivered efficiency improvements such as a saving of 21,000 clinic appointments.
Ian Dove, CDDFT’s business development manager, said: “The efficiency improvements the trust has made through saving clinic appointments are excellent. This service allows clinicians to work more efficiently and has reduced the risk that clerical errors can impact upon clinical care. At CDDFT we are determined to assist in the development of a fully-digital NHS by 2020, and the world’s-most-efficient healthcare system.”
