Dignio established a virtual care hub in Sarpsborg municipality in Norway, to provide connected care to patients with long-term conditions.

The project had a particular focus on developing multi-disciplinary, tailored care plans for individuals with complex needs and using digital tools to motivate patients and support positive health behaviours. The hub is now managed by municipal staff.

Population: COPD, heart disease and diabetic patients.

Intervention: Patients use the MyDignio patient app to monitor their health and wellbeing, obtain greater insight into their own condition, and to facilitate self-management. Patients use the MyDignio app to answer questionnaires, report symptoms and readings from bluetooth integrated devices for monitoring vital signs. These include: electronic medicines dispensers, blood glucose monitors, pulse oximeters, spirometers, blood pressure monitors, thermometers, weighing scales and patient alarms.

A centralised response centre, staffed by a team of nurses and a doctor, monitors, triages and manages patients using the Dignio Prevent dashboard. The nurses initiate appropriate actions in the event of any alerts being triggered and respond to patients queries predominantly using the chat function. The centre has access to physiotherapy, nutrition and psychology resources as necessary.

Outcome: Patients reported that they were highly satisfied with remote care. They felt more in control of their health, more reassured and understood their condition better. Half of the respondents reported that their diet had improved. The community diabetic clinic reported an improvement in HbA1c levels following the initiation of the intervention.

– MESTRY user