The process of discharging a patient is often slow and demands multiprofessional care. Hospitals are often forced to keep patients in the inpatient ward for too long, because rehabilitation and monitoring are almost non-existent after discharge. Patients and their loved ones are often worried about how they will cope at home on their own. This is why the main goal of a hospital without walls is to help make inpatient stays shorter and home care easier.
Here at Vivago, we know that with the help of new technology, the rehabilitation of patients can be monitored in real-time and that it also helps to increase the patient’s sense of security. The wellbeing data of a patient’s wellbeing, provided by Vivago, supports timely transfers from hospital care to rehabilitation and home care. In this way, a hospital without walls can reach over all the thresholds of a chain of care. With Vivago’s solution, both inpatients and patients in rehabilitation or in the process of discharge can be monitored with one system. The solution will follow the patient home and it enables real-time monitoring of their wellbeing and receiving any alarms the patient may send. This also enables the care providers to monitor any changes in the patient’s wellbeing and to act accordingly if necessary.
The wellbeing information measured by Vivago is based on a clinically validated method of monitoring sleep, activity and circadian rhythm. Exact measurements of sleep, activity and circadian rhythm give reliable information on a person’s general wellbeing and their sleep-wake cycle. Changes in the measurements can be caused by changes in the mental state of a patient, medication and/or disease. In the hospital without walls concept, wellbeing data is used to support decision-making and to help with the care of a patient.
Vivago had the honor of participating in the thorough renewal process of City of Pori’s rehabilitation hospital, which was strongly supported by the hospital administration. The goal was to improve the efficiency of the hospital. Central to the renewal was to use Vivago’s technology and analytics to improve on the hospital’s practices and chain of care to serve the patients better. Introducing the concept of a “wall-less” hospital, i.e. the seamless continuity of the chain of care and real-time monitoring of the patients’ wellbeing, was laid down as the main goal for the process of discharge. The rehabilitation hospital in Pori adopted Vivago CARE watch, which monitors both the patients’ sleep-wake cycle and their activity level. Every patient in the renewed tower hospital wears a Vivago CARE watch. The hospital also introduced the use of Vivago Domi POINT smart care phones to help with discharge. In addition to enabling a voice contact, the solution also relay data on the patients’ wellbeing and serve as a monitoring system for home care providers. The extensive renewal has reduced the time needed for rehabilitation, which has resulted in considerable savings in the hospital’s expenses. The renewal also enables hospital staff to rely on current information in their decision-making and to direct their care procedures on the basis of the patient’s real-time wellbeing information.
On top of this, the hospital in Pori has been able to significantly reduce the need for patients to transfer from home care into specialized medical care units. Vivago’s data helps to monitor the wellbeing of patients in home care and to provide timely help when needed. The access to anticipatory information has brought with it a model of early help that means care procedures can be performed early enough so the need for specialized medical care can be avoided. This means unnecessary ambulance dispatches and hospital visits have been reduced, since the acute care team is able to help the patient sufficiently.