Wireless health system for post-op care heads to clinical trial in Hamilton

Hamilton Health Sciences is hoping a new system called SMArTVIEW will prove successful in improving health outcomes for patients following heart surgery.

SMArTVIEW offers a steady stream of vital signs information to a handheld device being carried by a nurse so that subtle indications of complication, like blood clots or infection, are caught early through alerts.

Co-principal investigator, Dr. Michael McGillion says often details are missed in between the routine checks every four hours.

This wireless, wearable technology, he said, could potentially change that, not only while a patient is in hospital but also during the recovery process at home.

“Patients are going home with a tablet and a set of vital signs equipment so they can take their vitals up to three times daily,” he said.

“That information comes back to the nurse in near real-time on our surgical unit so that they can have a video visit with the patient and assess what’s happening.”

The hope, he says, is to curb readmission rates. Research suggests as many as 18 per cent of patients are readmitted to hospital within 60 days of having surgery.

Now that the interface has undergone some small-scale testing, the team at HHS and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital will be enrolling 600 patients in a clinical trial expected to start in December.

“This really represents a process in the change of post-operative care,” he said.

“There are certain behaviour change elements we need to focus on, so engaging the nurses and patients as invested stakeholders, helping them to learn about the study and take ownership of it and make suggestions.”

McGillion says this phase of the project will also compare the cost of deployment to the cost savings through the reduction in hospital readmission.

SMArTVIEW is one of fifteen projects that received funding through Ontario’s $20 million dollar Health Technology Fund.