An NHS trust in the East Midlands has revolutionised Parkinson’s disease management through the use of remote monitoring. This service aims to support patients living with Parkinson's disease in the community, detecting changes in a patient’s condition while maximising the benefits of remote support on a digital platform to keep them safe at home.

By managing their care at home, the patients can achieve the best possible outcomes. In addition, rehabilitation guided by physiotherapists is an important non-pharmacological management intervention for people with Parkinson’s disease. To facilitate remote support, the NHS trust chose Clinitouch, a remote patient monitoring platform. They deployed two Parkinson’s pathways on the platform: Parkinson’s Nursing and Parkinson’s Physiotherapy.

Aims & Objectives

• To reduce unscheduled hospital admissions
• To help identify early warning signs for people living with Parkinson’s
• To improve patient’s self-management of their condition
• To reduce the number of home visit interventions

How it works

• Patient - Referred by a Parkinson’s practitioner (Nurse or Physiotherapist) providing the patient meets referral criteria. Patient is given access to Clinitouch and remote monitoring equipment. At home, the patient answers health questions and takes vital sign readings on Clinitouch.
• Clinitouch - The platform has unique algorithms that automatically analyse and risk-score the data. It will highlight when any patient moves outside the agreed parameters.
• Parkinson’s Practitioner (Nurse or Physiotherapist) - Remote monitor Parkinson’s patients using the information the patients submit on Clinitouch. If patient is flagged amber or red on Clinitouch interventions are made.

Expected Outcomes

• Reduction in hospital admissions and re-admissions
• Improved patient self-management and knowledge of their condition

Noel O'Kelly, Medical Director at Spirit Health comments:

“With remote patient monitoring using Clinitouch, clinicians can safely manage Parkinson’s patients in their own homes, whether the patients are being discharged home after a hospital admission with changes to their medications or require monitoring and support for their rehabilitation journey in the long term."