Enhancing virtual healthcare through remote monitoring
How Professor Nigel Lovell is helping to revolutionise patient experiences and outcomes.
Published on the 06 August 2024
As the head of the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Tyree Foundation Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE) at UNSW, Profesor Nigel Lovell's primary goal is to address unmet patient needs through innovative med-tech solutions. He’s making that possible through the creation of the evidence-based remote patient monitoring platform, TeleClinicalCare (TCC).
TCC represents a significant advancement in continuing care after discharge. This innovative smartphone app and clinician monitoring portal is effectively reducing instances of re-hospitalization and saving lives. Professor Lovell began forming the TCC app’s front end by sourcing low-cost physiological monitors such as pulse oximeters and blood pressure graphs – with the idea of using the smartphone as the integrator for the data they would produce. The app also uses this data to deliver questionnaires and educational materials to patients.
On the backend, it provides clinicians with access to a patient clinical portal, allowing them to view longitudinal measurements and run health-risk stratification algorithms, revealing who was at risk of their condition worsening and helping to prioritise patients based on assessments of their health. A study involving 160 cardiovascular patients demonstrated the app's effectiveness, showing a 50% reduction in hospital readmissions after six months.
"By running a service that tracks health remotely, we could intervene at appropriate times and reduce patients having to come back into hospital by a factor of half compared to those who weren’t monitored."
- Professor Lovell
Connected health during COVID-19
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prof. Lovell and his clinical partner, Associate Professor Sze-Yuan Ooi, adapted the app for managing COVID-positive patients – creating the TCC-COVID service in just six weeks.
Roughly 8000 patients were given access to the app, a pulse oximeter, and daily symptom questionnaires – with data remotely analyzed by the South East Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) and Prince of Wales Hospital. This remote monitoring allowed hospital resources to remain available for the most critical patients, while still offering personalised care from an experienced medical team.
The app’s next evolution
Following the success of the TCC-COVID app, the SESLHD Virtual Care team adopted the TeleClinicalCare – Heart Failure (TCC-HF) program. The TCC-Stroke program was also initiated to manage stroke recovery and monitor ECGs to look into stroke risk. “There’s a certain ECG rhythm called atrial fibrillation, which means patients are more likely to have another stroke,” Prof. Lovell says.
Prof. Lovell aims to extend the app’s use to various co-existing health concerns, including geriatrics and managing complex comorbidities – with modules created for chronic kidney disease, gestational diabetes, neonatal intensive care, and more.
Collaborating to create change
Prof. Lovell’s work is supported by the IHealthE Innovation and Software Foundry team, along will health executives from South East Sydney Local Health district. “Collaboration is critical for what we do,” he emphasizes. By involving clinicians, health executives, and patient stakeholder groups, TCC ensures the solutions they co-design are impactful and fit for purpose.
While TCC technology evolves, Prof. Lovell remains as committed as ever to improving society and patient health outcomes – through solutions designed in collaboration with the communities they’re supporting.
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