Global-First Virtual Hospital Research Framework Launched in Ireland

News Summary:

The pioneering initiative aims to create multiple virtual clinical ‘areas’ for patients with different conditions, providing an innovative and effective digital healthcare solution.

The virtual hospital has the potential to alleviate pressures on current physical infrastructure, by empowering patients and clinicians to deliver the right care, in the right place, at the right time, while reducing cost.

Initial setup stage has already seen approximately 350 ‘bed days’ saved; project recognised with a National HealthTech Ireland Innovation Award.

GALWAY, Ireland – December 6th, 2024: Cisco, the worldwide leader in networking and security, today announced a joint initiative with the University of Galway and CÚRAM, SFI Research Centre for Medical Devices in Ireland, to create a research framework for the world’s first ‘Virtual Hospital’, serving patients with diverse conditions at every stage of their healthcare needs.

As part of the Cisco Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) programme, the initiative, which is already in pilot, is aligned to the ambitions of Ireland’s 10-year health and social care reform Sláintecare, to avoid unnecessary hospital admission and support patients at home.

Greater patient power

The objectives of this initiative, powered by Cisco technology, are to help increase access to services, convenience, and improve outcomes for patients. It will also seek to provide patients the ability to play an active role in their own recovery. The virtual platforms are designed to mean patients will not only be able to monitor their progress, but also provide patients direct access to educational materials, and the ability to participate in the decision-making process with their healthcare providers.

Unlike other initiatives around the world which deliver individual speciality virtual wards, this initiative brings together multiple clinical areas and stages of treatment to provide seamless care. These include community virtual care pathways for enhanced monitoring of chronic conditions such as COPD to enable admission avoidance. In addition, it is enabling virtual outpatient clinics for remote appointments with integrated multiparameter diagnostics.

Delivering virtual care

Cisco technologies, including networking, cybersecurity, Webex devices and application visibility solutions, are delivering mission critical digital infrastructure to power operations, connecting patients with their healthcare providers, wherever they may be, and ensuring reliable mobile data connectivity for seamless virtual care.

Underpinned by Cisco networking infrastructure, myPatientSpace and patientMpower mobile health apps provide the virtual hospital’s digital platform that helps patients track key health metrics and monitor symptoms from home. Clinician’s will connect to real-time dashboards that display information on a patient’s condition, alerting medical professionals to changes so they can detect deterioration early and deliver timely care.

Initial feedback from patients during the setup of the initiative has been highly positive with comments including: “you’re not having to travel to go to a consultant, and they can do it from their office as well… you have the GP on it, and another doctor too. For me, that’s a complete positive”; “all my information from the monitoring was there in front of me on the screen. I found it all very useful, and in some way better than in person.”

The University of Galway HIVE Lab has developed a range of digital care solutions for local patients in this groundbreaking study, enabled by Cisco technology such as Webex integrated Virtual Consultations. The initiative is using innovative AI technology such as dynamic appointments where patients with chronic diseases are automatically triaged to an appropriate outpatient clinic slot based on their clinical need (e.g. Blood Pressure, HbA1c values). In addition, the HIVE lab has developed smartphone-based software that uses AI enabled cameras to help monitor patients’ rehabilitation exercises to ensure that they are doing them in the way their physiotherapists prescribed to aid rapid recovery from operations.

Reduced workload and financial pressure

The virtual hospital research initiative is leading the way in tackling rising pressure on Ireland’s health system, particularly its funding and staffing needs. It will aim to prove a framework that could contribute to the lightening the workload of healthcare professionals thereby increasing staff retention, while minimising operational costs and optimising the use of healthcare resources.

According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK, early value assessment study on virtual ward platform technologies demonstrated their cost-effectiveness, with an estimated £872 (€1,020) saving per person compared with inpatient care and by £115 (€135) per person compared with care at home without a virtual ward.

This research project is being carried out in conjunction with University Hospital Galway across two specialities. To date, in the initial setup stage of the project in Ireland, approximately 350 ‘bed days’ have been saved by patients who have been supported at home via a COPD virtual care pathway as part of this project work.

Quotes:

Professor Derek O’Keeffe, Project Principal Investigator, Professor of Medical Device Technology at the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at University of Galway, said: “This research project offers an innovative virtual solution to a real global healthcare problem. It will explore new ways of providing care to our patients using next generation technology and new clinical pathways to improve health and economic outcomes”.

Brian Jordan, Country Digital Acceleration Lead, Cisco Ireland, said: “Digital technology is critical to the future ofhealthcare and is capable of extending care well beyond hospital walls, right into patients’ homes and in the heart of their local community. Cisco is proud to be supporting this ground-breaking 360° care delivery model that aims to streamline processes, alleviate staff workload, and reduce financial pressures on public healthcare services.”

Commenting on the significance of the initiative, CÚRAM Director, Professor Abhay Pandit, said: “This project is one of the largest industry collaborations our centre has supported to date. It is an excellent example of the impact that collaborations between CÚRAM and industry can have on local communities and society at wide.”

Reaching more patients

The initiative expects to support hundreds of patients across the Diabetes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation virtual care pathways in the Galway region. With the development and rollout of virtual outpatient clinics this is expected to extend to thousands of patients next year.

Remote digital solutions

This latest project builds on other pilot digital healthcare studies supported by Cisco in remote parts of Ireland. Enabled by its CDA programme, this includes the Home Health project in Clare Island, home to an aging population of 160 residents and challenged by extreme weather conditions. Care solutions in the Home Health project include smart wearables to track vital signs; drones to fly in prescriptions; virtual reality headsets to deliver training for nurses; and a robotic dog to triage emergency health issues.

Ends

ABOUT CÚRAM

CÚRAM, the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre for Medical Devices, marks a decade of ground-breaking research and innovation in 2024. Over the past 10 years, CÚRAM has emerged as a global leader in medical device research, revolutionizing healthcare and fostering collaboration between academia, industry, patients and healthcare professionals. CÚRAM is committed to enhancing the quality of life for individuals afflicted with chronic illnesses. To achieve this, the Centre’s scientific program addresses significant issues, technical hurdles, and the existing limitations pertaining to medical device design and functionalization. With committed funding of over €270 million, CÚRAM excels in its capacity to foster collaborative networks that aim to develop solutions for global health challenges. For more visit curamdevices.ie

About University of Galway

Established in 1845, University of Galway is one of the top 2% of universities in the world. We are in the top 50 universities globally for sustainable development in line with the United Nations SDGs. We are a bilingual university, comprised of four colleges, 18 schools and five research institutes, with more than 19,000 students, including around 3,000 international students. We are the only university in Ireland designated a Government of Ireland Sustainable Development Champion. We have been accredited with an Athena SWAN Institutional Bronze Award, and 11 out of our 18 schools hold individual Athena SWAN Awards. We have more than 2,500 staff, and research collaborations with 4,675 international institutions in 137 countries. We have 133,000 alumni and 98% of graduates are in employment or further study within six months.

About Cisco

Cisco is the worldwide technology leader that securely connects everything to make anything possible. Our purpose is to power an inclusive future for all by helping our customers reimagine their applications, power hybrid work, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals. Discover more on The Newsroom and follow us on X at @Cisco.

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco’s trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

Media Contacts:

Amy Lucas

Cisco Public Relations

+44 (0)788 191 8160

amylucas@cisco.com