App for patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease

When the disease is in an outbreak, there is an increased need for contact with the hospital, but previously the staff at the hospital could not keep up with the patients' symptoms and progress, unless they called together. It was a complicated and time-consuming process for both parties, and the patients often found it difficult to get through to the department urgently.

AIM

The aim of the project "PRO on the patient's premises" was to develop a new course in the patient app My Hospital, which should help to involve patients with chronic intestinal inflammation more in their own course of illness. The app should give the employees the opportunity to follow the patients' progress as well as provide better opportunities for continuous reporting of symptoms. In addition, it should facilitate communication between patient and hospital, so that treatment can be better tailored to the individual.

The project also wanted to make it possible to hold video calls via the app, so that patients who live far away can save the trip to the hospital.

RESULTS

The project has succeeded in creating a solution that provides the desired options for patients and staff. In just one year, a process has been established in the Mit Sygehus app with a well-functioning PRO solution, where patients can report symptoms and answer questions about their condition. A good 800 patients use/have used the app during the first year, and the evaluation of the project showed that approx. half of the patients who have used the "My Registrations" module have shared their data with the staff so that it could form the basis for their treatment and the joint dialogue about the treatment process.

The evaluation of the first test of the app indicates a change in the treatment and control of the patients, primarily around the communication between hospital and patient and the workflows at the hospital. Thanks to the new solution, PRO data from the patients is included in the specific outpatient check-up and decisions about treatment, just as in practice they form the basis for individually tailored communication with the patient.

Between hospital visits, patients have been given the opportunity to write to the staff and receive a reply within 24 hours at the latest. The new solution means that the contact between the nurses and the patient is more focused on what the patient's needs are in the given situation and is not solely based on a standard procedure.

The project was completed in March 2020, and the solution is today part of the daily operation and a fixed offer to the patients at The Department for Medical Gastrointestinal Diseases at OUH in Odense and at the Gastroenterology Department at South West Jutland Hospital in Esbjerg. Since the end of the project and the corona pandemic, the department in Odense has also added a function with video consultations to the app, so that patients and staff can talk to each other via video instead of physical visits. In Esbjerg, this solution is also being implemented (status as of May 2020).

Although the app is in operation, there are still wishes for development, for example work is being done to integrate a 'kit' for home monitoring, which can analyze stool samples in the citizen's home as a basis for organizing treatment.

Alongside development and testing of the app, a 3-year PhD project has been initiated by Jannie Petersen Fallesen, which will run until December 2023.

PARTNERS

The project was led by Marie-Louise Krogh from the Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology at OUH, and was carried out in collaboration with the Department of Gastroenterology at OUH and the Gastroenterology Department at Sydvestjysk Hospital in Esbjerg, where the new solution was implemented.

CIMT has been responsible for the evaluation of the project, and also contributes to the associated PhD project by Janni Petersen Fallesen, where former CIMT researcher Mette Maria Skjøth is co-supervisor.

EXTERNAL FUNDING

The project received 1 million DKK from the TrygFonden for development and implementation of the new app function for patients and evaluation of the effects.

The associated PhD project is financed by the University of Southern Denmark, UCL and Sydvestjysk Sygehus.