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Digital service for cancer patients

Distance treatment Finland
Digital service for monitoring cancer patients’ symptoms, wellbeing and quality of life. It will help care teams predict complications and relapses at an earlier phase than previously. The service will move towards proactive treatment management, which has the potential to increase the chances of survival by many months and reduce hospitalization and casualty department visits.
Improved quality of life and increased self-monitoring.
Cancer patients in different hospital districts.
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Elaboration

Needs and challenges

Cancer patients have many questions and need to be able to contact care personnel whenever they have any queries.

In addition, care personnel want to be more aware of how the patient is doing.

Solution and function

This service is for patients and offers different functions. Patients can talk about their symptoms and receive instructions on how to take care of themselves better. Patients can use the service via a mobile phone, computer or tablet wherever they are. Care personnel use the service from hospitals.

Care personnel check communications from the digital service twice a day. They will reply within 1–2 days. This service is not for acute cases.

This service can also be used for drug research. In traditional research, collecting information is a slow and expensive process. By using this solution, funds used to gather data can be split in half. Patients are also more committed to participating. Because of the solution, results can be reported in real time.

Implementation

Implementation is quite easy. The hospital must utilise the solution (via a contract with the company) and inform cancer patients that this kind of service is available. The solution does not need to be implemented in any patient record system.

The service is being used at seven university hospitals and three district hospitals in Finland. For example, in Tampere, 1,200 patients use the service.

Economy

A digital service can help prioritize and replace hospital visits.

Care resources can be transferred from physical contacts to a digital service, which means more patients can be treated.
There are no costs for patients.

Process

Hospital districts decide if they want to offer this service to their patients and enter into a contract with a service provider.

Clinics notify patients that this kind of service is available.

More about effects

For patients, the service brings quality of life and a sense of security. This is because of active care, follow-up and contacts. Care personnel are more aware about how patients are managing.

This solution improves care and makes it more seamless. Personnel are able schedule their day better. There are also less phone calls during the working day. Patients who visit the clinic can be treated without any interruptions.

Clinics can follow their patients in real time and recognize severe symptoms. Clinics can decide which patients require a hospital visit and which patients can remain at home after receiving instructions. Patients are not left alone. They also have a connection to care personnel between hospital visits.

Learnings

Do you want to know more about the solution?

Download the full description (PDF) »

The service only requires the ability to use a mobile phone/computer.

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The service can be used in every hospital district. It can also be used in other countries.

Noona

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