UK telecoms group BT has launched a suite of connected healthcare solutions as part of a new ‘virtual wards’ programme to support the NHS and other healthcare providers. Solutions include various devices to monitor patients remotely, notably for heart conditions, as well as analytics software to assist clinicians on the other end run remote checks on patients. BT has said the portfolio will expand, as it seeks to provide strategic tech support to the sector.
BT has also announced a number of partnerships with specialist software vendors in the healthcare sector. Notably, it has partnered with platform provider Feebris, which will help to deliver new virtual care solutions as part of the virtual ward concept. The Feebris platform is used by community healthcare professionals, in care homes and community nursing, to manage patient data and direct care programmes.
With partners, BT is offering an integrated care app for clinicians, and AI remote monitoring and an online consultation platform for patients. The project is being led by BT’s IoT incubation hub, Etc., which is developing the broader virtual ward solution to “solve some of the biggest challenges in healthcare”. The full suite will be launched later this year; the roll-out is being handled by BT’s healthcare team, led by in-house healthcare professionals and an external advisory board.
Separately of the virtual wards initiative, BT is working with a digital therapy app, called my mhealth, to provide digital interventions for patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The platform features digital tools, such as education courses and care plans, for patients to self-manage medical conditions, and for clinical teams to help patients to regain control over their conditions.
BT quoted NHS research that said 74 percent of NHS staff agree that technology helps to deliver better quality care, while the current standard of technology at work is a source of stress for 49 percent. The same research suggested virtual wards can reduce re-admission rates by 50 percent, estimated to save the NHS £1,047 per patient. Ninety-four percent of patients are more confident to manage their conditions at home with technology.
Today’s launch marks an important milestone for BT in its commitment to working alongside healthcare providers to unlock the power of technology and improve health services across the UK. Its ‘clinically led, digitally enabled’ strategy sees BT work closely with the NHS and other healthcare providers from the first conversation, right through to tests and trials and rolling transformative technology out across the front line.
Sultan Mahmud, director of healthcare at BT, said: “With health services facing exceptional demand – as thousands of patients await discharge and pressure on clinicians grows – we are launching our virtual ward and virtual care programme at a critical time for the NHS. These new virtual healthcare partnerships will help deliver a better service for everyone – enabling clinicians to safely monitor patients at home or via community care, freeing up hospital beds for those who really need them, and relieving the pressure on our frontline services.”