02.11.2023

New remote care solution improves patients' quality of life and brings significant savings to society

Ville Väärälä, Fujitsu and Mirka Tammi, HUS meeting Fujitsu management in Tokyo

A new automated solution that brings safety to the patient’s everyday life and streamlines the work of healthcare professionals has been developed in the CleverHealth Network coordinated by HUS. The new remote care model enables savings of up to tens of thousands of euros per patient. The first service solution created as a result of the partnership cooperation will now be commercialized in cooperation with Fujitsu.

The treatment options for severe kidney failure are organ transplantation and dialysis, which is carried out either in a hospital or in the patient’s home. It has been noticed that, from the point of view of both the patient and society, dialyses at home are a better alternative than dialyses performed in a hospital: the patient’s quality of life and prognosis are better and the costs to society lower. Compared with the treatment provided in hospital, the annual savings from hemodialysis carried out at home are up to EUR 20,000–40,000.

Cost-efficient solution revolutionizes remote care of chronic diseases and improves patients’ quality of life 

In the Home dialysis project of CleverHealth Network, all processes, laboratory results, welfare information, care supply orders and communication related to dialysis therapy were brought together in an easy and simple real-time interface serving the patient as well as the care team from the predialysis phase throughout the home dialysis treatment.

The aim of the new service solution created in the project is to improve patient safety, provide real-time information in a graphically simple form both to patients and to the care team, and to make the care process as clear as possible.

“In home dialysis, the patient needs an individual selection of care supplies delivered regularly to their home. In the project, we clarified the previous complicated process of ordering supplies. We also added regular patient surveys on symptoms and the quality of life to our new model,” says Virpi Rauta, Nephrologist at HUS and the leader of the Home dialysis project.

All the care information provided by the dialysis equipment, the patient or the healthcare professionals is transferred to the interface either automatically from the equipment or through the electronic forms filled in by the patient. Paper forms, patient records that need to be searched from different places and complicated processes will be history.

Such an extensive digital scalable service that can be integrated into the medical records systems and in which both the patient and the healthcare professional use the same interface is the first of its kind in the world. The savings brought by the service solution are significant.

“The solution developed by the CleverHealth Network makes significant savings possible in the care costs and personnel costs, as the wellbeing of patients with difficult diseases can be monitored in real time instead of regular follow-up visits. The solution supports our strategic goals,” says Matti Bergendahl, Chief Executive Officer of HUS.

A scalable model for home care of chronic diseases 

The solution developed in the Home dialysis project is also unique in the sense that it can be scaled for the home care of other chronic diseases as well. In the future, it will also be possible to use the solution to guide smaller healthcare units in the home care of chronic diseases. In addition, it could serve as a platform for centralized guidance of care and more centralized remote monitoring in Finland.

CleverHealth Network's partner company Fujitsu is advancing the commercialization together with HUS.

“CleverHealth Network is a forerunner in co-creation with companies in the public and the private sector. This commercialization agreement with a global company is a very important opening for HUS and opens doors to the international markets. We are extremely satisfied with our partnership with Fujitsu,” says Mirka Tammi, Project Director of the CleverHealth Network from HUS. 

“The strategic partnership between Fujitsu and HUS makes it possible to develop important Finnish innovations and take them to international markets. Home dialysis takes advantage of Fujitsu's remote care ecosystem and extensive network of partners. Thanks to this, the operating model enables a significant increase in the treatment of the main chronic diseases at home. Our shared aim is to alleviate the acute cost pressures and shortage of resources in healthcare,” says Joonas Siitonen, Head of Healthy Living at Fujitsu.

Further information 

Virpi Rauta, Nephrologist, Medical Director of the project, HUS
virpi.rauta@hus.fi, +358 40 528 3147

Joonas Siitonen, Head of Healthy Living, Fujitsu Finland Oy
joonas.siitonen@fujitsu.com, +358 50 5886 368

 

CleverHealth Network is an internationally renowned ecosystem processing and cultivating health and welfare data and a forerunner in the healthcare revolution. In the multidisciplinary cooperation coordinated by Helsinki University Hospital (HUS), companies and research institutes from different sectors work together to develop new world-class solutions to identified clinical needs by making extensive use of health and welfare data. www.cleverhealth.fi