"CONTACT," Openwork also among the project's Technology Partners.
Testing of "CONTACT," an acronym for Cooperation and integration of clinical trial and care pathways, a major e-Health project funded by the region under Innonetwork (a program that promotes the creation of public-private technology partnerships for the development of innovative solutions on a regional scale) for the remote management and monitoring of patients with Multiple Sclerosis, has started in recent days.
It is a digital platform that enables the health care facility to manage the clinical pathway of patients, specifically manage care processes, share information and attached documentation, and monitor patients remotely throughout the diagnostic and therapeutic pathway.
A scientifically, clinically and technologically relevant project
"The Partnership of the Contact project, made up of major regional ICT companies, the Polytechnic University of Bari and IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza," explained Piero Cosoli, Project Coordinator, "represents a virtuous example of a regional system working together to promote and adopt the latest ICT technologies. The Partnership itself is configured as a knowledge chain for the realization of solutions in the strategic sector of the citizen's well-being and health."
THE ROLE OF PATIENTS
After a short training period and equipped with the necessary networked technological instrumentation, patients will measure their vital parameters such as blood oxygen saturation, blood pressure, body temperature, heart rate and sleep quality directly from home; all recorded using a common smart bracelet.
These values are then sent, via an app installed on the patient's cell phone, to the digital platform that can be accessed remotely by physicians and health professionals involved in the care process.
REMOTE MONITORING
Following enrollment, patients, associated with specific treatment pathways modeled on the basis of the drug therapy they follow, will be monitored and assisted remotely for the duration of the trial, including through chat or video calls with the physician. In this way, practitioners from the hospital will be able to monitor the patient's degree of adherence to prescriptions and make any appropriate modulations to the therapy, based on detected needs.
THE DEDICATED APP.
A key role in the platform is given to the dedicated app to be installed on the patient's smartphone. It draws and transmits data to and from the platform, sends reminder notifications of activities to be performed, and manages the teleconsultation in the time slot agreed upon between patient and health care provider.
"Through the orchestration of different systems, the platform will facilitate the adherence and monitoring of the care pathway of patients with Multiple Sclerosis followed by our Center, explained Maurizio Leone, head of the Neurology Unit at IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza. - -The patient, moreover, by detecting and sending data, values and measurements, becomes an active part in the management of care and clinical trials. Through the constant monitoring of certain biological parameters, with the essential contribution of patients, we could modulate and improve the course of care by adapting it to the different needs of each person."
PROJECT PARTNERS
CONTACT is a project to which as many as 8 Apulian partners contributed, including start-ups, companies or public and private research institutions; IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza of San Giovanni Rotondo - a health care facility created and inaugurated by Padre Pio on May 5, 1956 - is the clinical partner that detailed the requirements of the digital platform and started the experimentation through the involvement of patients and health care professionals.
The other 7 project partners are:
- Openwork s.r.l., Bari, project leader, an IT company specializing in the development of Business Process Management solutions
- Sincon s.r.l., Taranto, an IT company dedicated to developing digital solutions for public administration and healthcare companies
- SER & Practices s.r.l., Bari, a company specializing in telemedicine and the development of digital solutions involving IoT equipment
-Euronet s.r.l., Grottaglie (TA), a company dedicated to the development of IoT solutions
-Informatica e Telecomunicazioni I-tel s.r.l., specializing in the development of telemedicine solutions and, in particular, mobile applications for e-Health
-Politecnico di Bari, Bari, with units engaged in CONTACT in the area of Adaptive Case Management methodologies and Big Data analytics
-Golem Plus s.r.l, Bari
