A ground-breaking digital health collaboration has been formed which has the potential to support millions of patients in the UK to self-care under the guidance of their care teams.
The initiative will provide a truly integrated patient and clinician platform, enabling self-care for patients on anticoagulation therapy in addition to those living with COPD, asthma, diabetes and heart disease through a range of integrated, digital care programmes.
In England alone, more than 15 million people live with at least one long-term condition (1). Many will also have co-morbidities which need to be managed simultaneously, while in Cornwall, 21% of the population have a long-term condition (2) many of whom could benefit from being able to self-care.
Management of long-term conditions is one of the biggest challenges facing the NHS, taking up half of all GP appointments(3) and accounting for around £7 in every £10 of total health and social care expenditure(3).
Camborne-based LumiraDx Care Solutions, which already supports over 2,700 NHS locations across the UK, and My mHealth have combined their market leading innovations in clinical management software and digital technology. The result is a brand new model of supported self-care built on cutting-edge, integrated technology which has the potential to make significant savings for the NHS by reducing hospital admissions and enabling patients to self-care under the guidance of their care teams.
The shared vision is to give as many patients as possible the knowledge, skills and confidence to take control of their condition, whilst reducing avoidable costs through digital transformation and education.
The partnership also demonstrates remarkable innovation in its implementation of the engage patient app, a new platform where patients can learn how to manage their condition whilst staying connected to their care team. The seamless two-way data flow between engage and the main clinical systems, means care teams have continual visibility of their patients’ progress.
Dr Mark Sullivan, Medical Director, LumiraDx comments:
“With the NHS under relentless and increasing pressure there has never been a greater need to improve the way that we support people with long-term conditions. Supported self-care offers a way forward – improving outcomes, helping people become more involved with their own care and reducing demands on the Health Service. That’s why we are so excited to collaborate with My mHealth and combine our technologies and expertise. Education and connectivity is key to ensuring patients can self-care and we have found a real synergy between our teams for providing this in our apps and care programmes.’’
Simon Bourne, CEO, My mHealth adds:
“This is a pivotal time for health technology and the focus now is on improving patients’ lives and reducing the burden on the NHS. By partnering with LumiraDx Care Solutions we’re aiming to change healthcare forever, delivering this integrated technology to as many people as possible and enabling them to become experts in their condition.”
The technology behind engage has been developed in Cornwall by the team at LumiraDx Care Solutions following the agile development methodology enabling a culture focussed on innovation and creativity.
ENDS
1. Department of Health, National Health Service. ‘Long Term Conditions Compendium of Information.’ May 2012, p.5. Last accessed: 7 December 2017. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/
2Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group. ‘Annual Report and Accounts 2015/16.’ Last accessed 24 January 2018. Available at: https://www.kernowccg.nhs.uk/about-us/annual-report/
3The Kings Fund. ‘Long-Term Conditions and Multi-Morbidity.’ Last accessed 7 December 2017. Available at: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/time-think-differently/trends-disease-and-disability-long-term-conditions-multi-morbidity
uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/216528/dh_134486.pdf