What's next for wearable tech? There are already a range of connected devices in use in the UK. One unobtrusive monitoring application – EncoreAnywhere – remotely connects sleep therapy patients to their doctor. “By collecting therapy data wirelessly from the patient’s home, the clinician can intervene early if needed,” says Sybo Dijkstra. Even small innovations, such as automated pill dispensers, can help patients stick to their medication; a new Medido dispenser will release the right medication at the right time and alerts caregivers when a patient misses a dose. This has shown medication adherence go up from 50% to 96%.
So what does your GP actually need right now? But it will take more than individual technologies to help reform general practice. “GPs… are at the heart of our communities, the foundation of the NHS and internationally renowned,” says NHS England in its document General Practice Forward View, published last April. But practices are experiencing unprecedented pressure, it acknowledges. The Government has committed to an extra £2.4 billion a year to support general practice services by 2020-21, a 14 per cent rise in real terms. Investment will be supplemented by a £500 million “turnaround” package to support GP practices. While money is welcomed, think tanks have criticized the investment as not going far enough to help integrate healthcare. As well as pledging to find 5,000 more full-time GPs in the next five years, the plan backs greater use of technology, including apps connecting patients to their practice and systems to manage appointments online. It also aims to share records more successfully across teams. Could technology and telehealth, which delivers virtual healthcare – help hard-pressed family doctors work in more integrated teams, with better communications, information and efficiency? This blog was originally published on The Telegraph.
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