We’re several years into the pandemic, and the health sector continues to rely more on home care solutions than hospitals and in-person treatment.
We all know that the pandemic has driven a shift to home care, thereby highlighting the risk of contracting illness and hospital-acquired infections (HAI). The fact is that before the Covid-19 outbreak, the risk of HAI was high, during the pandemic it has soared, exacerbated standard infection rates. So people were and still are skeptical when they go to the hospital.This change in behavior resulted in Adoption of home medicine and telehealth on the rise solution.
As a result, the healthcare ecosystem is forced to adapt and create solutions for use outside the clinical setting. As new technologies and capabilities emerge, especially in the areas of infusion and drug delivery, we can expect the adoption rate of home relocation to continue to grow. This shift is expected to lead to improved and more personalized patient care.
Challenges of developing home care devices
Understandably, moving care to the home is not an easy task for infusion therapy and drug delivery providers. Device manufacturers now face unique challenges as they attempt to develop patient-centric, connected, self-managing solutions. Lack of access to patient treatment logs, safe management, and difficulty in ensuring patient adherence to medication regimens are just a few examples of barriers providers need to overcome to help patients “self-medicate” at home.
It all starts with the connection
To effectively transfer infusion and drug delivery therapy to the home, clinicians must first “connect” to the home. Establishing a direct line of communication with home-based devices allows clinicians to view data and see how patients are progressing. This is especially helpful for medication adherence. Additionally, clinicians will be able to receive near real-time alerts, enabling them to take action from a distance to better ensure improved patient outcomes. The increased data flow will also allow us to gain a deeper understanding of patient behavior, paving the way for improved treatment in the years to come.
Increase transparency in home care
While hospitals have a controlled environment for collecting and tracking data to make the patient assessment process easier, this is not necessarily the case in a home setting where patients are either alone or have to rely on family members to care for them. This raises doubts and concerns about the accuracy of self-reporting, which often creates interoperability and reporting issues, resulting in gaps in the transmission of reliable data.
Increased access to patient data plays a vital role in streamlining standard operating procedures for home care. By combining smart sensors such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology, connected devices can be connected to the cloud and transmit patient data to hospitals and clinicians. Data can then be accurately captured and easily shared among patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Access to larger datasets will allow physicians to view a specific patient’s level of adherence and tolerance to specific drug regimens and adjust accordingly.
Protect patient data
While increased connectivity offers new capabilities, it also brings new risks. Information breaches and cyberattacks can put both providers and patients at risk. It is critical that device manufacturers and suppliers understand the challenges involved and work together to reduce data breaches. Fortunately, global privacy and security laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), provide a framework for suppliers and manufacturers. Safe privacy measures provide patients with a sense of confidence and will help them further engage in their care journey.
The importance of ease of use
Drug delivery can be complex and tedious. It requires the patient to perform several steps to ensure successful administration, such as: loading the drug, choosing the correct settings and dose for a specific device, ensuring the sterility of the device and drug, and recording the amount and time of administration. To ensure patient-centered drug delivery in the home, minimizing patient interaction with the drug handling process needs to be a top priority. This step helps prevent basic user errors that can lead to confusion, frustration, and non-compliance.
Simple and patient-friendly subcutaneous drug delivery requires an on-body drug delivery device. Wearable devices provide patients with enough discretion and flexibility to continue their daily lives uninterrupted. Creating ready-to-use, pre-filled and pre-loaded devices can provide a patient-centric solution while meeting the needs of both clinicians and patients.
Home patients using infusion or drug delivery devices will be more likely to be successful by enhancing ease-of-use factors such as adding a touchscreen, intuitive protocol instructions, and secure embedded software.
keep in touch and move on
The pandemic presents a unique opportunity for the development of the health sector. By adding adherence and connectivity features to home-based solutions, clinicians can maintain open lines of communication with patients, helping patients take better care of themselves from the comfort of their homes. In return, hospitals will be able to focus on patients who need intensive care. Offering connected, home-based infusion and drug delivery devices outside the clinical setting, patients can rest assured that they will receive the best possible care.
Photo: selimaksan, Getty Images
