Fighting COVID-19, hospitals resources are at peak demand and beds are scarce. By providing real time monitoring of seniors who live alone and are self isolating, and those in care homes that are most at risk, beds and lives may be saved. With real-time 24/7 remote vital signs monitoring with alarms, the risk to these patients can be minimized in the very near term, at low cost, saving lives and creating peace of mind for patients and their care providers. SafetyPatch delivers these benefits.
In a hospital setting, by getting patients back home to convalesce, there are significant benefits:
- Additional infections are unlikely,
- scarce resources are better utilized,
- patients are at lower risk, and
- patients are happier.
This is a great move to make if patients are safe at home. SafetyPatch provides 24/7 real-time monitoring for outpatients, eliminating most of the risk of home health care.
For patients that come into the hospital, there are risks of new infections and if admitted, there is a significant probability that they won’t survive. By moving a greater percentage of patients into a home care situation using SafetyPatch 24/7 monitoring, outpatients can be safely monitored and an immediate change in treatment can be made if conditions change.
For patients recovering in the hospital, there are risks of new infections and moving patients out is highly desirable. SafetyPatch allows physicians to discharge patients sooner because the risks of regression are mitigated. With 24/7 real-time home monitoring, any change in a patient’s condition is immediately measured and recorded, alarms are raised and new treatment options can be immediately implemented.
The other significant benefit of SafetyPatch is that it engages with the patient’s care provider network to reduce the burden on the hospital staff. By providing alarms first to care providers outside the hospital and then escalating to hospital staff only in critical situations, false alarms are eliminated. The hospital saves resources and money while the patient’s care providers are aware of changes. This leads to better care for all.
SafetyPatch provides a full range of remote monitoring for single seniors and other patients. It has the following real-time 24/7 features:
- heart rate
- respiration rate
- temperature
- blood pressure
- movement detection
- fall detection
This is a great move to make if patients are safe at home. SafetyPatch provides 24/7 real-time monitoring for outpatients, eliminating most of the risk of home health care.
This set of features will allow care providers and the seniors themselves to monitor vital signs without intervention of scarce nursing staff. It will immediately trigger an alarm for:
- fever or temperature issues
- in a limited way, dyspnea or breathing difficulty
- lack of motion or falls
- heart rate changes
- blood pressure changes
- respiration rate changes
Free hospital beds, saved lives and improved care will result from SafetyPatch use.
INSTALLATION AND SETUP
The system is designed to be extremely easy to use and setup. It will require a person with basic Internet knowledge to set up the system. This may be an outpatient nurse, a care provider or the senior themselves. Setup will require a smart phone or a computer. A simple video will explain the use and setup of the system. A very simple five minute setup is required to connect a specific device to a user and create alarms for the care providers. Support is available by phone, email and remote desktop.
ALARMS AND ALARM PRIORITIES
During setup the priorities for propagation of alarms is decided. The sensor has a rating for how far out of range a parameter is. The delay time to respond to an alarm is a second factor. As the product of the rating and time delay, the alarm is escalated in priority. There is a priority list of care providers with a threshold. As their threshold is reached the alarms are propagate to them. The top level is the critical care provider alarm built into the system. If others have not responded and canceled the alarm, the critical care nurses handle the alarm.
Alarms occur via sms or text, email and audio notifications for care providers. Critical care nurses have an Internet interface and respond using telephones as well.
SCALE
The system can be scaled simply by adding more devices and more resources in the cloud and in the critical call center.
COST
The cost per unit with service provisioning for one year is roughly $129 USD. The devices can be either purchased by individuals or provided at no cost from a pool of units purchased by your care network. Nursing costs for critical care nurses are billed at $100 USD per hour if provided by Home Health Systems; but can be completely assumed by the hospital.
Hospital resources are at peak demand and beds are scarce. By providing real time monitoring of seniors who live alone and are self isolating, and those in care homes that are most at risk, beds and lives may be saved. With real-time 24/7 remote vital signs monitoring with alarms, the risk to those patients can be minimized in the very near term, at low cost. SafetyPatch saves lives and creates peace of mind for patients and their care providers by ensuring a 24/7 watch with immediate remote assistance if the health of the individual declines.
Convalesce at home is the safest and best approach when compared to a hospital setting.
- Additional infections are unlikely,
- your life is not disrupted, and
- you will be happier.
At the same time, you will provide a social service by minimizing your drain on the health system, assuming of course, that you are not so sick you need to be in the hospital.
The risk of convalesce at home is that there is nobody to watch you 24/7. SafetyPatch overcomes this risk by monitoring all five vital signs continuously, comparing the measured values to values set by their physician. Motion is also measured. If values are out of range or the patient is too still for too long, an alarm is automatically generated to the care provider network who will then check on the patient. The care provider hierarchy ensures that the alarm is handled and someone checks the patient.
When checking in with the patient, the care providers can ask questions and get to the heart of why the alarm was triggered. If the patient’s condition is deteriorating, treatment can be initiated as required:
- a trip to the physician’s office,
- a trip to the hospital by care providers,
- a trip to the hospital by ambulance,
- a change in medications,
- or a visit by a physician or care provider.
With SafetyPatch monitoring, patients always have someone watching.
For patients that go into the hospital, there are risks of new infections and if admitted, there is a significant probability that they won’t survive. By moving a greater percentage of patients into a home care situation using SafetyPatch 24/7 monitoring, outpatients can be safely monitored and an immediate change in treatment can be made if conditions change.
For patients recovering in the hospital, there are risks of new infections and moving patients out is highly desirable. SafetyPatch allows physicians to discharge patients sooner because the risks of undetected decease regression are mitigated. With 24/7 real-time home monitoring, any change in a patient’s condition is immediately measured and recorded, alarms are raised and new treatment options can be immediately implemented.
By providing alarms first to care providers outside the hospital and then escalating to hospital staff only in critical situations, false alarms are eliminated. The hospital saves resources and patients save money while the patient’s care providers are aware of changes. This leads to better care for all and peace of mind for patients and care providers.
SafetyPatch provides a full range of remote monitoring for single seniors and other patients. It has the following real-time 24/7 features:
- heart rate
- respiration rate
- SPo2
- temperature
- blood pressure
- movement detection
- fall detection
This set of features will allow care providers and the patients themselves to monitor vital signs without intervention of scarce nursing staff. It will immediately trigger an alarm for:
- fever or temperature issues
- dyspnea or breathing difficulty
- lack of motion or falls
- heart rate changes
- blood pressure changes
- respiration rate changes
Free hospital beds, saved lives and improved care will result from SafetyPatch use.
INSTALLATION AND SETUP
The system is designed to be extremely easy to use and setup. It will require a person with basic Internet knowledge to set up the system. This may be an outpatient nurse, a care provider or the senior themselves. Setup will require a smart phone or a computer. A simple video will explain the use and setup of the system. A very simple five minute setup is required to connect a specific device to a user and create alarms for the care providers. Support is available by phone, email and remote desktop.
ALARMS AND ALARM PRIORITIES
During setup the priorities for propagation of alarms is decided. The sensor has a rating for how far out of range a parameter is. The delay time to respond to an alarm is a second factor. As the product of the rating and time delay, the alarm is escalated in priority. There is a priority list of care providers with a threshold. As their threshold is reached the alarms are propagate to them. The top level is the critical care provider alarm built into the system. If others have not responded and canceled the alarm, the critical care nurses handle the alarm.
Alarms occur via sms or text, email and audio notifications for care providers. Critical care nurses have an Internet interface and respond using telephones as well.
COST
The cost per unit with service provisioning for one year is $129 USD. The devices may be either purchased by individuals or provided at no cost from a pool of units purchased by your care network. Nursing costs for critical care nurses are billed at $100 USD per hour if provided by Home Health Systems; but can be completely assumed by the care network or care providers.