Self-Diagnostics - Home Sampling and Monitoring 

Keywords

Prevention, sustainable healthcare, inequality, pneumonia, hospitalization, home sampling, self-monitoring, patient empowerment  

Industry/Branch 

Healthcare 

Focus Area

The current inequality in healthcare also applies for pneumonia. Factors such as socioeconomic status, educational level, ethnicity, relationship status, neighborhood/environment and employment status all influence your chances of preventing pneumonia for this above-mentioned tree-fold target group.

This challenge is important because there is an increasing pressure on hospitals and a decreasing number of healthcare professionals. With technological development, patients
expect a flexible and efficient treatment where they play an active part.

 Pneumonia is a strategic target as we are currently undergoing a demographics change, including an increased number of: Elderly people, chronic patients and patients suffering from multiple diseases (comorbidities). 

Introduction

Demographic change:

• Increased number of elderly people
• Increased number of chronic patients
• Increased number of patients suffering from multiple diseases
  (comorbidities)

Inequality in healthcare is defined in two ways

• 1) There is an inequality related to the
  increased risk of becoming ill due to an unhealthy lifestyle
• 2) There is an inequality related to the
  treatment of patients already suffering from disease

Treatment: As a consequence of medical intervention many patients suffering from cancer experience immunosuppression. This leads to an increased risk of getting an infection including pneumonia.

Hospitalization: If cancer patients undergoing immunosuppressive treatment experience symptoms of infection and do not react, they have an increased risk of hospitalization.

 The state of our healthcare: The Danish healthcare system is fighting for resources, not only human resources such as nurses and doctors but also physical resources such as space and hospital beds. In addition, the budgetary means going into the Danish healthcare system is under pressure, meaning that the prevention of hospitalization caused by pneumonia would save costs for the hospital.

•  Pneumonia is a large cost driver in the North Zealand Hospital. Pneumonia treatment today consists of approximately 5 days of treatment during hospital admission.
• In North Zealand Hospital 3130 hospital visits are registered yearly due to pneumonia. This equals 36mio d.kr/year in cost. 
• Clinical experts at the North Zealand Hospital see great potential in renewing the flow of treatment to take increasingly place in patients’ homes. 
• This has the potential to reduce the length of the hospital admissions as well as decrease the amount of time the patient is unable to carry on with their everyday life.
• Hospitalization leads to increased costs and if this continues we will
  see an unsustainable healthcare system moving forward.

Challenge

Investigate the existing home sampling and monitoring solution and –  based on state-of-the-art tech solutions – develop the best possible concept for patients undergoing immunosuppressive treatment to prevent pneumonia and hospitalization. 

What we think we need: A solution that enables and empowers patients to monitor their own disease and their level of infection. The aim is to empower patients with immune malfunctions to monitor their health at home and avoid hospital visits and admissions. 

Early detection of pneumonia is difficult; as of now the indicators are many and the symptoms of the illness are a hard-core bio-tech challenge. 

We aim to….

1. Detect illness as
   early as possible in order to start treatment early, prevent an aggravation of
   diseases, and prevent unnecessary hospital re/visits.
2. Discharge patients from the hospital earlier than today but allow them to monitor and test themselves at home in order to detect risk of deterioration and allow the
   possibility to intervene.

The target group: Small group of patients in high risk of acquiring infections and with a high level of ability to take part in their own treatment. 

Considerations

• 1)What is most convenient for the patient?
• 2)How do we ensure proper sharing of data?
• 3)How do we ensure the right change in behaviour?
• 4)How can we involve relatives?
• 5)Does different patients need different solutions?

• 6)Scout market for relevant partner/technology

Links/access  

More links will be added. 

1. Demographic
   change
2. Increased
   healthcare costs
3. Whitepaper:
   Social inequality in cancer in Denmark, Cancer Society 2019 (Danish)
4. https://www.danishhealthdata.dk/
5. https://www.cphhealthtech.dk/data-redder-liv
6. https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/4054390/Copenhagen%20Healthtech%20Cluster/Case-stories/Sundhedsdata%20-%20Success%20Clinic.pdf