A new digital platform has been created with hopes to assist cystic fibrosis (CF) patients at the comfort of their own homes, limiting hospital visits, reports Evening Standard. This new platform will allow CF patients to communicate directly with doctors, conduct at home tests, and review results all from their smartphone. This could potentially save the normal CF patient an average of 8-10 hospital visits a year.
Cystic fibrosis currently affects about 6,000 individuals in the United Kingdom. It’s a disease that attacks the lungs by producing a thick mucus in the lungs as well as the digestive system. Additionally, CF patients are required to be in isolation from one another because bugs they harbor in their lungs could cause another CF patients with a life-threatening infection. Being able to receive assistance and treatment from their homes could limit this from happening.
Society is headed in a digital direction. Prof. Stuart Elborn from Royal Brompton expressed that we already trust smartphones with our money, why shouldn’t we trust it with our healthcare?
Technology exists for at home-tests, such as services provided by Thriva. Prescriptions could be delivered to homes by Echo, which is known to be the medical Amazon.
The platform is being funded by Royal Brompton, Harefield Hospitals Charity, and Babylon, a digital healthcare firm. They want to provide a 6-month trial for CF patients. They hope this platform will better service patients around their needs, rather than them having them go out of their way to bring convenience to hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. They anticipate this technology will be popular among younger patients, who already rely heavily upon smartphones everyday.
