Virtual care of chronic kidney disease patients
Anne-Jet Jansen (BMS-HTSR, Rijnstate), Laura Kooij (Rijnstate), Anneke Bech (Rijnstate), Eugenie Schipper – Reintjes (Rijnstate), Wim van Harten (BMS-HTSR), Carine Doggen (BMS-HTSR, Rijnstate)
Abstract
Introduction
Healthcare organizations experience an increased demand of care due to the ageing population, leading to more chronically ill patients and rising costs. Shifting hospital care to a mix of digital care and self-management could reduce the number of outpatient visits. This study evaluates the feasibility of virtual care of chronic kidney disease.
Methods
This study aims to include 80 consecutive chronic kidney disease patients from Rijnstate Hospital. Patients received digital remote monitoring through a smartphone application, weighing scale and blood pressure cuff, and measured weight, blood pressure and symptoms weekly (virtual care). At baseline, characteristics and eHealth literacy (scale 0-40) were assessed. After three months, we measured usability (scale 0-100), acceptance (Likert scale 1-5), and change in satisfaction (scale -39-+39) from the perspective of both patients (N=13) and healthcare providers (N=10).
Results
So far we recruited 39 patients with good eHealth literacy (median[IQR]: 30[27-32]). Until now, 13 patients completed follow-up questionnaires. Patients rated usability higher than healthcare providers (70[65-77] versus 60[48-70]). Acceptance of technology was predominantly positive for both patients and healthcare providers, except for the effort required to enter measurements into the application and improved symptom recognition. Patient satisfaction with virtual care indicates a preference for virtual care over care prior to the introduction of virtual care (19[9-29]). Healthcare provider satisfaction was good, except for frequency of measurements and workload.
Discussion
Early results on feasibility of virtual care of chronic kidney disease are positive. With continued positive experiences, remote monitoring could be extended to other departments and hospitals.