The COVID-19 pandemic made remote consultations necessary for good heart failure care, now it appears to work even better than the traditional care pathway. Research from five Dutch hospitals and researchers of the TechMed Centre of the University of Twente found that using digital consultations improved care while maintaining patient satisfaction. ‘Digital consultations are a win-win situation,’ says cardiologist Mark Schuuring.
Heart failure affects more than 64 million people worldwide, over 240,000 in the Netherlands. Every year, there are over 33,000 hospital admissions for heart failure in our country. Mark Schuuring, cardiologist at MST and researcher in the Biomedical Signals and Systems research group (Faculty of EEMCS / TechMed Centre), says: "During the COVID pandemic, our patients could not come to the hospital and we were forced to switch to remote consultations. That turned out to work well, but there were also concerns about quality. That gave us the idea for this study."
The study around home monitoring was coordinated by the Amsterdam UMC. Home monitoring involves regular measurements, such as blood pressure and heart rate. This gives a more complete picture of the person. Monitoring in the hospital is at limited times, which makes well-tuned medication more challenging.
Optimal medication combination through digital consultations
The researchers divided 150 patients into two groups. One group followed the digital consultation strategy, the other the traditional care pathway. After 12 weeks, the researchers determined how many patients had achieved the optimal medication combination. Ultimately, 28% of those who participated in digital consultations received the optimal combination, compared to only 7% of those who followed the traditional care pathway. The researchers also analysed concerns about the use of digital consultations. They found no differences in the amount of time invested, levels of satisfaction or, crucially, patients' quality of life. ‘The research presented showed that digital consultations really are a win-win situation: the patient's care is improved and their experience is not diminished,’ says Mark.
Published article
The study results were published on 31 August in the renowned Nature Medicine and simultaneously presented at the annual conference of the European Society of Cardiology in London. An article on the current state of the field was also published.
Follow-up study in Twente
The Twente MedTech region is very suitable for the follow-up study. It fits into the broader development of more digital care, for example with Zorg bij jou. Recently, two PhD students, Charell Jansen and Jeroen Valk, started working at both MST and the University of Twente. They will look more broadly at the impact of digital consultations, also with the other Santeon hospitals. In the follow-up study, digital data sharing between patient and doctor, with education for both patients and medical staff, will again be organised in the best possible way. ‘Proper setting of medication remains a challenge in many patients. We are going for fewer hospital admissions and care that is better tailored to the individual,’ Mark said.
Patients with heart failure, under treatment at Medisch Spectrum Twente and interested in digital consultations can already get in touch via administer@mst.nl.
More information
Mark Schuuring is a Non-Invasive Cardiologist at the Medical Spectrum Twente and a Researcher at the Department of Biomedical Signals and Systems (Faculty of EEMCS / TechMed Centre). As a (co)supervisor of multiple PhD candidates, he focuses on eHealth and artificial intelligence in Cardiology. Dr Schuuring published over 80 peer-reviewed articles, including papers in European Heart Journal – Digital Health and European Journal of Heart Failure (H-index 23) and received various grants (Nederlandse Federatie van Universitair Medische Centra, TKI-PPP Health Holland, Hartstichting, Amsterdam UMC, and Stichting Hartcentrum Twente).
