Due to the coronavirus pandemic, hospitals needed to focus on seriously ill patients. Other patients, however, need to continue care but are faced with visitation and treatment limits. Hospitals like UKSH needed digital communication and treatment solutions to ensure adequate patient care.
UKSH and Buddy Healthcare enabled ongoing remote patient care
We want to introduce a success story from Germany: the Pain Clinic of Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, implemented Buddy Healthcare's care coordination platform just before the Coronavirus disease struck. Originally developed as a solution for automating care pathways, the platform was introduced in the form of the Pain Coach tool to improve patient care and minimise care personnel's administrative workload. The unexpected challenges of the pandemic have shown that the BuddyCare platform and PainCoach App can ensure continuous and contactless patient care despite clinic closures.
How does the remote care process work for the patient?
UKSH Pain Day Clinic patients use the PainCoach App from home or on the go. Patients could actively participate in their own care and treatment and receive easy-to-understand, timed instructions and support throughout the process. All important information, videos and documents were available around the clock in one place. Patients could complete in-app forms or feedback and submit them digitally for care personnel's review. The App also enabled the secure exchange of two-way messages between the patient and the clinic.
How does the remote monitoring dashboard work for care personnel?
The UKSH Pain Clinic’s care personnel followed the patients’ progress on their care pathways by monitoring the Pathway Management dashboard. A web-based clinical dashboard was useful for collecting all necessary patient data, forms and feedback. The treatment team monitored the progress and activity of the patient at any time via the dashboard. If necessary, the treatment team of the Pain Day Clinic were available to its patients to discuss urgent questions personally over the phone.
Feedback from the UKSH Pain Clinic
Prof. Dr. Med. Carla Nau, Director of the Clinic for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, said:
“With this digital therapy tool, our patients could continue their treatment. Without this mobile application, the current patients would have had to interrupt their care in the outpatient clinic. It can also accompany future pain patients while maintaining compliance with all current safety requirements.”
Simultaneously, the Pain Day Clinic team is working on a study to determine the effectiveness of digital therapy. Buddy Healthcare's care coordination platform will be introduced to other UKSH inpatient and outpatient departments.
