Lakeridge Health has partnered with the Ontario Telemedicine Network to monitor COVID-19 patients in Durham Region who have been discharged from the hospital.
Patients will download an app in which they will report their symptoms on a daily basis. Community Care-registered nurses will monitor the data seven days a week to ensure patients are healthy and do not need to go back to the hospital.
“What this is designed to do is when they leave the hospital emergency department, they still have a connection back to the system,” said Jeff Gardner, Director of Clinical Care Programs at Central East LHIN.
Patients will get an alert to their phone within an hour if there’s concern with their symptoms or if they need to return to the hospital.
Dr. Ilan Lenga, Lakeridge Health’s Chief Informational Officer, says the virtual ward will help to provide relief to hospital resources.
“This allows patients to be treated in their own home, which reduces the pressure on the hospital,” Lenga said.
“It protects patients as well as our staff from further exposure when it’s unnecessary to be exposed.”
Lakeridge Health is looking into using the tool even after the pandemic is over. Staff have already created a similar model for lung disease patients and was already planning to expand their virtual projects this year.
“We were using telehomecare nurses to monitor their responses at home and to support their chronic disease,” Gardner said.
“What that does is it keeps people out of hospital and keeps them at home and let’s them know that they’re safe and someone’s watching them.”
The tool will cost the province about $25 per month per patient. Currently 15 Lakeridge Health patients are using the virtual ward.
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