Authors (including presenting author) :
LEUNG HY(1), LEUNG SS(1), CHICK YL(1), TSING WL(1), HEUNG LW(1), YIP TH(1), LI KY(1), CHAN WMM(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Community Nursing Service, Princess Margaret Hospital
Introduction :
In combating with the escalating service demand due to ageing population and growing chronic disease burden, TeleHealth serves as one key strategy to provide smart care to patients and bolster service capacity. Community Nursing Service (CNS) has long been providing holistic community care aiming to empower patients for self-care and reduce hospital utilization. TeleVisit, an innovative idea of TeleHealth development in CNS, serves as an adjunct to primary mode of CNS outreach service to improve patient outcomes and experience, and reduce workforce pressure. A pilot of TeleVisit was launched in PMH and UCH CNS to evaluate its feasibility.
Objectives :
1. To improve access to care 2. To offer options for patient’s choice 3. To improve clinical outcomes and patient experiences 4. To better manage growing service demand
Methodology :
With support from KWC Smart Hospital Management Committee, HA Cluster General Managers (Nursing), HA Information Technology (IT) Team and Finance Team, the proposed pilot drafted by the Workgroup on TeleHealth in CNS was commenced on 22 August 2022 with staff training conducted beforehand. The target sample size is 24 with 12 patients for chronic disease management and 12 for chronic wound management. Patients under CNS care who are clinically stable with informed consent to TeleVisit requirement and arrangement would be recruited. Patients would be selected by primary nurse/ team in-charge according to set of criteria. Patients for Diabetes Mellitus (DM) or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) care have to be complied with treatment plan. Only stage 2 or 3 pressure injuries and leg ulcers remaining unhealed for 8 weeks without clinical sign of infection and advanced wound care would be considered. Patient/carer has to be competent to demonstrate wound dressing with audit passed. “Hybrid mode” is run that face-to-face home visitation and TeleVisit would be provided according to a preset schedule. TeleVisit and patient registration is conducted via the one-stop mobile app, HA Go. Gazette charging, attendance capturing and nursing documentation of TeleVisit would be same as a face-to-face home visitation.
Result & Outcome :
In evaluation, nursing time and pre and post outcomes, such as empowerment scores, hospital utilization and wound condition, would be compared. User experience survey on patients and staff would also be conducted for future implementation improvement.
