The AHSN Network has supported many innovators to help advance our health and care system. Find out more about successful innovations supported by the NHS.
Less than 50% of severe asthma patients have eosinophil-driven disease (Wenzel2005) and Biologics are designed to control the number of eosinophil cells (Asthma UK). Only 10.8% of eligible severe asthma patients have access to biologic medicines today in the UK. Increasing the use of biologics appropriately would reduce use of Oral corticosteroids (OCS), associated with negative side effects, and exacerbations, causing 75,000 annual UK hospital admissions, each costing £1500.
FeNO (Fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide) testing alongside the recommended NICE diagnostic tests, will help enable more accurate diagnosis of asthma. Over 120,000 patients a year, 30% of the asthma population, are wrongly diagnosed and given inappropriate medication. This project will look to reduce the use of steroids and improve diagnosis, enabling correct adjustments or the right medication to be prescribed. FeNO is indicative of the severity of airway inflammation.
patientMpower remote monitoring technology (RMT) is currently supporting 2,000+ respiratory disease patients to monitor and manage their condition from home. Clinical studies show patientMpower improves patient well-being and aids achievement of exercise goals and the use of remote spirometry and e-health journals is feasible and acceptable for patients. 2021 studies will measure the health economic benefits of RMT in NHS outpatient folllow-up care.
Working with the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC), the AHSN Network is rolling out FeNO testing to help improve the diagnosis of asthma. FeNO (Fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide) testing alongside the recommended NICE diagnostic tests, will help enable more accurate diagnosis. Over 120,000 patients a year, 30% of the asthma population, are wrongly diagnosed and given inappropriate medication. This innovation aims to reduce the use of steroids and improve diagnosis, enabling correct adjustments or the right medication to be prescribed. FeNO is indicative of the severity of airway inflammation.
Less than 50% of severe asthma patients have eosinophil-driven disease (Wenzel 2005) and Biologics are designed to control the number of eosinophil cells (Asthma UK). Only 10.8% of eligible severe asthma patients have access to biologic medicines today in the UK. Increasing the use of biologics appropriately would reduce use of Oral corticosteroids (OCS), associated with negative side effects, and exacerbations, causing 75,000 annual UK hospital admissions, each costing £1500.
The HIN has been commissioned to support a drive to equip members and partners to offer the Covid Oximetry @home model. This comes as treatment of Covid-19 improves and evidence has shown that earlier detection of (silent) hypoxia at home could help further reduce mortality and morbidity.
For COPD patients who experience frequent and severe exacerbations, COPDPredict™ is the only digital health solution that can predict an impending exacerbation at least 7 days prior to onset, promptly and efficiently directing medical professionals and patients to adjust treatment and prevent hospitalisations. COPDPredict™ is superior to other remote tracking solutions as it is specifically designed to facilitate a model of care focussed on Prevention by uniquely combining remote monitoring and patient-personalised exacerbation prediction. Patients benefit from AI-enabled preventative care closer to home and enhanced quality of life; payors benefit from resource synergies and cost savings.
Spirit Digital’s CliniTouch Vie platform uses remote monitoring to help patients self-manage conditions and enable healthcare teams to proactively monitor patients safely at their home or usual place of residence, enabling prioritised focus on those who need support. The platform supports pathways and conditions including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), heart failure services, frailty patients and care home healthcare, and early discharge and post surgery services. The platform has been particularly relevant during the Covid-19 pandemic as COPD patients are in the high risk category.
Camresp have developed a CE-marked, proprietary, CO2 sensing device named N-Tidal, which enables them to collect more data from normal breathing than ever before. The device provides new insights into lung function. The connected hand-held device is simple to use, requires little-to-no training and is perfect for use within the clinic or at home. It is suitable for patients as young as 4 years old as well as the elderly. With unique insights, as well as correlations to FEV1, PEF and FEV25-75, the N-Tidal brings a new paradigm in the diagnosis, monitoring and management of cardiorespiratory conditions.
The O2COMFORT flowmeter offers an innovative answer to oxygen therapy. This device can deliver oxygen in a traditional, continuous manner, but it also contains a comfort mode in which a dose of oxygen is only administered upon inhalation. The comfort settings 1 to 5 give an equivalent therapy of 1 to 5 litres per minute of continuous flow. The flowmeter offers additional advantages over the traditional flowmeter. When in comfort mode, the oxygen delivery follows the natural breath rate of the patient. In this way the O2COMFORT flowmeter increases the wellbeing of the patient while reducing the waste of medical oxygen.
Smoke Free is a behavioural change app used to support people giving up smoking. The app incorporates evidence on how to quit smoking and includes more than 30 different behaviour-change techniques. Users are encouraged to stay smoke-free through consistent notifications of progress in terms of time, money saved, health improvements made and more. They can also employ the app’s “missions”, which are daily tasks designed to help people quit and stay smoke-free. A Smoke Free-led, randomised control trial of more than 28,000 participants found that those who engaged with the missions were twice as likely to remain abstinent from smoking three months following their set quit date. A subsequent randomised control trial found that the app’s automated chatbot increased quit rates even further.
