A new nurse-driven Irish TB smartphone study from the HIHI Trinity Hub at St James’s Hospital shows remarkable health system savings, increases treatment access, and supports self-management in the community.
World TB Day
World TB Day is recognized on March 24. This annual event commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes tuberculosis (TB).
World TB Day is a day to educate the public about the impact of TB around the world. CDC, along with their partners and colleagues worldwide, share successes in TB prevention and control and raise awareness of the challenges that hinder our progress toward eliminating this devastating disease.
Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death worldwide from an infectious agent, resulting in more deaths than HIV and malaria. Deaths from TB rose for the first time in more than a decade due to Covid 19 (WHO, 2022).
Although TB is treatable, non-adherence to medication leads to ongoing transmission, disease progression and development of drug-resistant strains. Treatment is lengthy, ranging from six months to two years depending on the type and location of TB.
Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) Trinity Hub and National TB centre
The Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) Trinity Hub and National TB centre, (both based at St James’s Hospital, Dublin) studied 34 patients over 18 months, to investigate the use of technology in contrast to in-person care in Tuberculosis (TB) medication adherence.
MAIN FINDINGS:
Revenue – Health Service Executive (HSE) financial and budget implications: Using the current method of Direct Observed Therapy (DOT), the HSE cost is €3,362 per patient over six months, compared to €300 with Video Observed Therapy (VOT) for the same period.
Workflow – HSE resources saved: The time for each public health nurse to carry out DOT in person, using hard copy records for one patient was up to 60 minutes. Using VOT, each patient video took – on average – one minute of the public health nurse’s time at the computer.
Health Innovation Hub Ireland Manager, Dublin, Eimear Galvin (Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, Trinity College) said:
“Health Innovation Hub Ireland’s focus is introducing innovative solutions to our health system that meet the priority needs of Irish patients. HIHI was thrilled to work with the TB team to deliver this important study, which shows remarkable health system savings, increases treatment access, and supports self-management in the community. The need for this kind of remote care and patient self-management is even more obvious now since Covid-19.”
Source: Trinity College Dublin News