- Confirmation that patients receiving telemedical care have better quality of life
- Effective supplement to outpatient care
- Partnership of scientists, businesspeople, and politicians
Berlin – Using telemedical care as a supplement to standard outpatient care can significantly increase the quality of life, and in some cases even the life expectancy, of risk patients with chronic heart failure. This is the finding of a clinical study involving 710 patients – a study that has been presented in Berlin by the “Partnership for the Heart” consortium of players from the medical and technological sectors. As part of a “telemonitoring” program, certain vital parameters of these patients were recorded and evaluated by a telemedical monitoring center on a daily basis. If any irregularities were discovered, the specialist personnel contacted the patients affected or their local physician. In some cases, this rapid reaction saved lives. Over the long term as well, this form of care was effective. Over the course of the study, which was sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, mortality in a certain patient group fell by more than half. The study was also able to demonstrate that this form of remote monitoring is sufficiently mature, technically and methodically, for it to be used on a wide scale. “The issue now is to quickly translate the findings of this study into practical action throughout Germany,” said Prof. Dr. Karl Max Einhäupl, the chairman of the management board of Charité-Universitätsmedizin, who was in charge of the medical side of the study.
For more than two years, the vital data of half the study population, based in Berlin, Brandenburg, and Baden-Württemberg, were recorded daily in their familiar domestic surroundings. The data were then evaluated in the telemedical monitoring centers at the Charité Hospital in Berlin and the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart. The other half of the study population were also treated according to the current guidelines for heart failure treatment, but were not monitored by a telemedical center.
All the patients involved suffer from heart failure, defined as the condition in which the heart pumps less than half as efficiently as normal. This can also result in fluid congestion, a hazardous condition that can often only be treated in hospital. Within two years, telemonitoring was able to halve cardiovascular mortality in one group of risk patients, which made up roughly half the entire study population.
Study furnishes arguments for the use of telemedicine
The study design satisfies the most stringent academic standards. “This makes its findings so impressive, and explains why it has caused such a sensation in the medical world, even though its findings have only been public for a few days,” said Dr. Friedrich Köhler, who managed the Charité team involved in the project. This technology gave attendant physicians an additional possibility of closely monitoring severely ill patients, he said, without having to travel long distances to a surgery, especially in rural areas. “It is not a question of replacing physicians, but one of supporting them in their work,” Köhler said. Regular standardized survey of the patients receiving telemedical treatment showed that they perceived an improvement in quality of life. “They felt more secure, as care was better,” Einhäupl said.
“The study impressively demonstrates the potential of telemedicine,” said Dr. Siegfried Dais, deputy chairman of the Bosch board of management. This supplier of technology and services headed up the technological side of the consortium, and was responsible for system integration, ongoing operation, and the quality of the overall system. The other companies involved in Partnership for the Heart were the appliance manufacturer Aipermon GmbH & Co. KG and the e-health software provider InterComponentWare AG (ICW). On a daily basis over the two years of the study, the patients recorded their weight and blood pressure and carried out an ECG. Their data were transmitted by mobile telephony to one of the two telemedical monitoring centers. The data were evaluated by specialist personnel. If there were any irregularities in the patients’ state of health, the specialists contacted the attendant physician or notified an emergency doctor. As a result, patients were able to live at home longer, in their familiar domestic surroundings. “The use of mobile telemedical measuring systems allows patients to be treated better in the home. Care has been taken to ensure that the systems are easy to operate for patients, and that their medical data can be transmitted quickly, securely, and reliably,” said Dr. Thomas Schweizer, the Aipermon managing director.
Response to demographic developments
Following this successful study, the consortium now wants to work together with healthcare providers and politicians to make telemedical monitoring available to as many patients in Germany as possible. In the consortium’s view, the study proves without a shadow of a doubt that remote patient management offers benefits in the treatment of heart failure patients. The aim now, therefore, is to rapidly expand the number of areas for which this form of treatment can be used.
In other countries, telemedicine is already being used to treat diabetes and severe pulmonary conditions, as well as in rehabilitation programs following strokes. In light of demographic developments, this is especially worthy of consideration. In the years to come, the population will age more and more, and the number of people suffering from chronic conditions such as heart failure will rise accordingly. “It is here that modern IT technology of the kind used in the telemedical Partnership for the Heart can achieve efficiency gains,” said Dr. Ralf Brandner, the director of development at ICW. In the U.S., more than 120,000 patients already receive telemedical treatment. In Germany, the number is roughly 15,000. Partnership for the Heart is therefore urging the authorities to speed up the approval procedures for various syndromes, so that this innovative form of care can be recognized as a regular form of treatment. “The study demonstrates that treatment management supported by telemedicine is especially beneficial for unstable patients. It is now up to healthcare providers and politicians to take the decisions that will allow this patient group in Germany to benefit from this innovative solution quickly,” Einhäupl said.
Contact person for press inquiries:
Andreas Kempf,
Bosch press spokesperson
Tel. +49 (711) 811-6285
Andreas.Kempf@de.bosch.com
Corporate communications
Robert Bosch GmbH
Postfach 10 60 50
70049 Stuttgart
