CORēHealth: operating center of telemedicine for chronic conditions and clinical networks

The COVID-19 emergency has given a great acceleration to the transformation processes of remote health pathways (telemedicine), which Apulia had already begun to pursue with the POR Puglia 2014-2020: HLCM and TALIsMAn projects (winner of the Digital Innovation prize in Healthcare 2021) from which CORēHealth, established at AReSS, derives directly.

Problem or opportunity

Each patient is assigned a treatment plan based on the specific Integrated Care Pathway(s) for their pathologies; the medical team, based on the specific needs, can provide patients with a kit of medical devices (e.g. oximeter, multiparameter, scale, sphygmomanometer, ecg, etc.), interoperable with the control unit, suitable for real-time detection and monitoring of the salient vital parameters that allow constant detection and monitoring, and possible intervention by virtue of the automatic alarm system the control unit is equipped with.From January 2022 the transformation of the Apulian Oncological Network into a digital key was started and therefore the training of the operators of the Oncological Guidance Centers and the Breast Units and the enrollment of about 23,000 cancer patients (approx. Breast).

Benefits

CORēHealth overturns the traditional patient care pathways, bringing, for the first time, digital innovation directly into their hands (App Mobile) allowing them to have their own medical history, their treatment plan and to maintain a constant and regulated dialogue with their doctor, the medical team and the care giver, as well as being able to take the most suitable measurements for the management of pathology/ies. Doctors can manage the clinical history of their patients in an integrated environment, optimizing times for care, reducing inopportune access to hospital facilities, developing their professional skills, including digital ones, according to a multidisciplinary approach to taking charge with a single access common point, reducing the distance between the hospital and the territory and moving the care activities of the chronically ill to an environment as close as possible to the patient's home. Another fundamental element of the CORēHealth is the systematic approach in Continuing Training and Consolidation of Digital Skills to enable informed access of all the actors involved to new digital technologies. And this is why AReSS has launched a virtuous path of training, change management and digital literacy for all users (medical and administrative teams) and patients.

Techologies

CORēHealth is characterized by:

• Web-cloud platform with HL7-FHIR interoperability
• Televisit, Teleconsultation, Telemonitoring, Telecooperation and Teleconferencing
• Device traceability system
• Clinical repository
• Patient Synoptic
• Central Alarms
• Mobile App for the Citizens (Android and IoS)
• Integration with the Regional Health Information System, Electronic health record, etc..

The APP promotes the patient's involvement in the care process: keeping in touch with his/her specialist doctor and caregiver (video calls and chat); consult the agenda of the televised programs with patient’s care team; view his/her treatment plan; enter the vital parameters that are communicated to the doctor in real time; manage their clinical diary and possibly share it with the care team; facilitate the measurement of compliance with the treatment path (drug intake, lifestyle).