You can’t expect to launch a healthcare system and hope Doctors and Nurses up and down the country will welcome it with open arms. No, you’ll need some kind of external validation. An independent person to talk to patients and clinicians, check our numbers and claims. Yes, someone to conduct a proper evaluation.
That’s what The Institute of Digital Healthcare based at Warwick University will be doing with Florence.
The evaluation is being led by Jeremy Wyatt, an experienced hand who’s worked in health informatics for 25 years. His research explores use of evidence and new models of care to innovate in clinical practice.
Hopefully Florence will fit the bill.
To help us understand their approach we asked Jeremy a few questions:
Have Warwick evaluated any other significant telehealth systems?
Yes, we have looked at a number of telemedicine and similar systems, eg. teledermatology to reduce unnecessary clinic referrals and an instant messenger channel to communicate with NHSDirect nurses. We are also looking at telestroke in Scotland and persuasive web sites for promoting exercise and the NHS Organ Donation register.
What in particular interests you about Florence?
The fact that it is quick and easy for people to sign up to with almost no technology, is very flexible, and is strongly supported by West Midlands NHS.
What approach will you take to evaluating Florence?
We always try to match our evaluation approach to the questions or decisions that need to be made. In this case, the key questions are around acceptability and impact on the use of GPs and other services. We are starting with a simple form for every patient using Florence and their community based nurse to fill out, and will then validate the responses with data collected by Florence and by the West Midlands data warehouse. We will also planning some specific studies around certain patient groups, aiming to explore the different methods Florence uses to alert care givers.
We’re confident Florence will pass with flying colours, so as soon as the evaluation is complete we’ll let you know the results.