This popped up last week:
Coronavirus is making our health sector and hospitals adapt to a virtual future
2 May, 2020
When acclaimed singer-songwriter Jaguar Jonze imagined launching her first EP, the back of an ambulance wasn't quite what she had in mind.
Instead of playing to fans across the United States in a planned tour, the 28-year-old was back in Sydney strapped to a gurney in the back of an ambulance.
She'd been struck down with COVID-19.
"I ended up releasing [the EP] in the ambulance," she said.
"Paramedics pumped it through the car systems and so we celebrated the EP on the way to the hospital."
Jaguar Jonze, whose real name is Deena Lynch, was mid-tour in the United States when the pandemic took hold, forcing her to return home.
After arriving in Sydney she had to fight to get tested because, at the time, coronavirus screening was limited.
"I had a fluctuating fever every day, really bad fatigue and lethargy, chest pains, excruciating chest pains, a slight wet cough. I didn't really have a dry cough," she said.
Rather than going to a regular hospital for monitoring, Ms Lynch was treated from her home in Australia's first fully operational virtual hospital, run through a special unit at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) Hospital.
When her condition worsened, it was immediately picked up through a combination of artificial intelligence (AI), and the medical staff observing Ms Lynch's data.
"I didn't call the ambulance because I didn't want to stress a system already overloaded with people in much more dire situations," Ms Lynch said.
"So for them to make that call, that was necessary for me, because I didn't want to take up resources or beds or ventilators that could go to other people that were really struggling with their health.
"I think this is a really good alternative solution to get the right level of care we need for those suffering from COVID-19."
After a brief stay at the RPA, she returned home and was later discharged from the virtual hospital — 40 days after being admitted.
Ideally, patients of the virtual hospital are treated at home or, if that's not possible, in a hospital-hotel serviced by NSW Health.
These hotels have also accommodated return overseas travellers and crew members of the Ruby Princess with COVID-19 and those who required other non-urgent medical attention.
"We have a virtual health model that uses telehealth to deliver the care," RPA virtual hospital clinical director Owen Hutchings said.
"It's really a remote monitoring program that is focussing on detecting clinical deterioration."
That deterioration includes both physical and mental wellbeing.
"The clearest, most significant advantage for the virtual hospital model is that it prevents exposure of people to each other," Dr Hutchings said.
"So both healthcare workers to patients and patients to healthcare workers."
In cases of coronavirus, where patients can be sick for long periods before rapidly deteriorating, constant monitoring is important.
Patients use wearable health devices to monitor their temperature, blood pressure, and oxygen levels.
The data is connected via Bluetooth to the patient's mobile and observed by a team of nurses and doctors.
Patients also have telehealth appointments at least once a day.
Sunshine Coast woman Ruth Craven stayed in one of the hospital-hotels for 19 days.
"There were a couple of days where I was quite nervous, I was also aware that it can change very quickly," Mrs Craven said.
She believes she caught COVID-19 while on a month-long cruise from South America to California.
Her husband was also on the cruise but did not develop the illness.
"It was reassuring to have these devices, but also to know that I was talking to somebody who was having these same conversations all day, so they would have been much more aware of even nuances of changes," Mrs Craven said.
The RPA's virtual hospital launched in February and was intended to treat patients with conditions like cystic fibrosis, or provide a palliative service for those needing a lower level of end-of-life care.
When the pandemic flared, the scheme was quickly expanded to accommodate COVID-19 patients.
Aaron Jones, chief nursing and midwifery information officer at Sydney Local Health District, said the idea was to keep a patient's life as normal as possible.
"We know from a patient-experience perspective that that's the best way to care for these patients," he said.
"This entire pandemic has presented some opportunities for us to actually leverage off technology to connect to our patients and their community in ways that we've never been able to do before," he said.
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How good is this! Remote monitoring, mobility, sensors and a sprinkling of AI to have patients kept safe at home while getting over COVID-19 but with the capability to really notice quickly if deterioration is happening (as this disease seems to do in the second week!) and getting them into the big Hospital fast!
I think I have died and gone to heaven. Well done to all involved – obvious but really useful. Look forward to the evaluations to show the level value and safety achieved! This is the sort of innovation those at the ADHA should really be supporting!
David.
Nice story and great use of effective technology targeting a need. David please don’t invite ADHA that is a path best not walked.
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