Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is poised to become the first provider in the UK to partner with Tyto Care, the healthcare industry’s first all-in-one modular device and telehealth platform for on-demand, remote medical examinations.
The trust will break new ground by carrying out remote examinations and diagnoses with a cohort of young patients, with acute and worsening chronic conditions.
Having secured FDA clearance in 2016, the TytoCare device is being used by leading health systems, telehealth companies, large private practices, and employers across the United States and Israel, triggering worldwide interest.
Now, having attained CE Mark approval for use in Europe in 2019, the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is set to be the first to bring the telehealth solution to the NHS.
The project will be spearheaded by the trust’s Ambulatory Care Experience (ACE) team, which brings care to unwell children in the comfort of their own home and prevents unnecessary admissions to hospitals.
“This partnership between Tyto Care and ACE brings together two healthcare leaders,” said Cindy Fedell, the trust’s chief digital and information officer.
“This ‘digital-first’ approach to care, where we put health in the hands and homes of patients, is a lynchpin of the NHS’s long-term telehealth plan.
“It also marks a milestone in our journey of digital innovation, which is already gathering pace thanks to other ground-breaking projects now in place in Bradford.
“These include the launch of Europe’s first Command Centre to improve the flow of patients around our hospitals, and the appointment of our inaugural head of clinical artificial intelligence.”
TytoCare is a hand-held, modular examination device that enables comprehensive and clinical-grade physical exams of the heart, lungs, skin, ears, throat and abdomen, and measures body temperature and heart rate, to enable remote diagnosis of acute care situations.
During a virtual consultation, clinical visual and audio data is captured by the TytoCare device and transferred either online or offline to a clinician.
The all-in-one solution enables care providers to deliver a full, guided examination 24/7, as well as a one-to-one consultation easily, in real time or as a deferred, planned review by a remote clinician.
The clinician can also link to local pharmacies using TytoCare, where a prescription can be ordered, meaning that the child or young person can be managed entirely in their own home.
“We are proud to partner with Bradford Teaching Hospitals to implement our telehealth solution and make an impact on a community that will benefit enormously from remote care,” said Dedi Gilad, chief executive and co-founder of Tyto Care.
“Tyto was created with children and families in mind to deliver convenient and accessible medical care without compromising quality, all from the comfort of home.
“We’re looking forward to enhancing the incredible work Bradford and the ACE teams are doing with existing at-home care.”
The ACE service involves an experienced community nursing team treating children aged up to 16-years-old in their own home, under the expert guidance of the trust’s consultant paediatricians.
Their work has already secured a prestigious Health Service Journal Award last year for Improvement in Emergency and Urgent Care.