During a press conference on Tuesday, Health Secretary Chris Fearne launched the remote patient monitoring pilot project, which will benefit children under the age of 16 with type 1 diabetes.
The Covid-19 pandemic made the concept of telemedicine even clearer. Telemedicine not only decreases patient-doctor contact, but also increases efficiency in the health sector in general, Fearne said.
The remote patient monitoring system will initially take care of patients who have type 1 diabetes and who are under the age of 16. Fearne confirmed that this project will eventually extend to people with heart and lung diseases.
As part of this project, patients will receive a sugar glucose monitor and transmitter. This means that patients with transmitter and monitor are monitored around the clock by experts from the industry.
Patients also have access to monitoring their glucose levels through a mobile app that syncs with the monitor they can attach to their arms, back and stomach.
Dr. John Torpiano, who was part of the project, spoke about the procedure and how it can better protect patients.
The monitor and app could warn patients about their glucose levels. The monitor checks every 5 minutes. If the sugar level is low or high, an alert will be sent to the patient’s mobile phone as well as the parents when this option is selected.
Torpiano also confirmed that through this initiative, if some readings are incorrect, with patients being monitored 24/7, contact could be made with patients, and if the problem is not resolved, an ambulance could be called to the patient’s location Person.
Both Fearne and Torpiano confirmed that the data collected by the monitor will not be published in accordance with the rules and regulations of the GDPR.
