Why telemedicine's rise must lead to a remote testing revolution
Hamish Grierson, CEO of Thriva, writes about the opportunity for remote monitoring through at-home testing, and as we move towards remote models of care, this element shouldn’t be overlooked.
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven the case for telemedicine, but if we are to see a proactive healthcare revolution then we must put remote testing firmly in the picture.
The pandemic has irreversibly transformed society as we know it - breaking down the very fabric of the way we live, work and engage with each other, catapulting us into a deep and potentially long lasting economic recession, disrupting education and dramatically changing our perceptions of healthcare and how it should be delivered.
Necessity has forced our hand, and we have seen a seismic shift in how we will view healthcare for generations to come. The events of 2020 have accelerated a macro political shift towards remote models of health and healthcare monitoring.
In the worst of the pandemic here in the UK, the pressing need to protect both healthcare providers and at-risk patients saw a dramatic rise in the use of telemedicine
Data from the Royal College of General Practitioners shows that 71% of routine consultations were remote in the four weeks leading up to April 12th, compared to 25% in the same period last year.
Throughout the most critical days of the pandemic, this model has ensured vulnerable people feel safe, and reduced footfall in GP surgeries and hospitals.
However virtual consultations, through video and phone, are only one part of the picture. Many consultations require testing as part of the follow up, to gain insights into their health and yet we’re seeing huge backlogs around access to blood testing.
The great opportunity is for an extension of telemedicine to include remote monitoring through at-home testing at scale, and as we move towards remote models of care, we must ensure that this critical element doesn’t get left out in the cold.
Through effective at-home blood testing, we will start to see real impact on health outcomes, with the additional benefits of lower costs and reduced pressure on GP surgeries and hospitals.
At Thriva, we are already working with hospitals and healthcare providers including the Royal Brompton Hospital and Kings College Hospital.
The potential is great. To take just one example area, there are 3.9 million people living with diabetes in the UK - roughly they each need a blood test every three months. You can add to that the millions of people who are on powerful drug treatments and require blood tests to monitor their liver function, or those who require regular check-ups whilst they’re on cancer treatments.
Many of these tests can be delivered remotely, at home using a finger-prick blood sample that patients can undertake themselves or by capitalising on the network of nurses who can drop into patients’ homes. Many tests can be delivered by post, with results accessed online by both medical practitioners and the patient, increasing patient engagement, reducing inconvenience for patient and increasing the likelihood of adherence. In short, at-home testing, if done right, is actually what patients are looking for in many situations.
Of course, it won’t be suitable for everyone - some populations will struggle to take a test themselves, and the long-held criticism of remote care is that it has the potential to leave the most vulnerable patients behind.
We need to recognise these limitations and seek to work closely with those who are responsible for the overall care to ensure that it meets the needs of all patients. But the opportunity far outweighs the hurdles.
If continued, this urgent shift (which this year we saw happen in days and weeks rather than months) has the potential to not only prioritise patient safety, but improve overall wellbeing and experience, with a customer-centric approach which enables people to take a proactive role in their own health.
This evolution towards remote testing could be transformative for the patient experience, accelerating a proactive, person-centric model vital to an effective and successful healthcare system of the future. In short, it has the potential to unlock a proactive healthcare revolution.