South Korean delegation visit Southend Renal Unit to find out more about innovative ‘virtual patient management’
11 October 2016
Events
Southend University Hospital’s Renal Department and representatives from healthcare products company, Baxter, hosted a delegation of healthcare providers and government leaders from South Korea today.
The purpose of their visit was to get a better understanding of
how new cloud-based technology (Sharesource Connectivity Platform)
is making a huge difference to the quality of care for dialysis
patients in Southend by providing two-way communication between
patients and their renal care team to support home dialysis
therapy.
Dialysis machines keep patients alive by doing the work of their
kidneys: cleaning the blood and removing waste. Patients are also
taught how to perform and manage dialysis themselves.
Previously a patient would visit hospital with a SIM card
containing a month's worth of data but with the new cloud-based
technology nurses can access and control patients' machines and
receive daily data without the patient ever needing to leave home.
It also means potential problems can be picked up earlier and
managed appropriately.
FACT: Southend University Hospital was the first Trust
in the country to use the remote access technology with 100% of its
peritoneal dialysis patients.
Dr Patrick Harnett, Lead Clinician at the Renal Unit, said: "It
was a great pleasure to meet and discuss practice with nephrology
colleagues from South Korea. It's always useful to hear about
treatment challenges and successes from other parts of the world.
They are clearly inquisitive about the new Sharesource system and
asked many relevant questions. It will be a rich source of
information and data and will hopefully lead to improvement in care
here and in South Korea."
Georgina Pharro, Peritoneal Dialysis Manager, at Southend
University Hospital, added: "Patients who may have been tentative
of doing dialysis themselves at home can be reassured that the
nurses have a close eye on what is happening. Our elderly and frail
patients can be monitored more closely. We are particularly proud
of our work we have done with the peritoneal dialysis patients and
are keen to show others what we have achieved. Baxter's technology
enables us to monitor and review our patients on a daily basis
therefore improving the patients' overall outcome."
The equipment is supplied by healthcare company Baxter and they
are at the forefront of home dialysis they offer a variety of
products for patients with kidney disease as their clinical and
lifestyle needs evolve.
Aiden O'Neill, Business Unit Director at Baxter, said: "Baxter
is very proud to be at the forefront of home dialysis with
innovative technology that allows automated peritoneal dialysis
with cloud-based telehealth. As the UK was the first country
to offer the HomeChoice Claria automated peritoneal dialysis with
Sharesource remote patient management system, we are absolutely
delighted to host healthcare providers and government leaders from
South Korea, so they can share our customer and patients'
experiences with the innovative system. We believe the
technology improves the patient experience and creates greater
flexibility in the management of patients who chose to have their
dialysis at home."