Using telemedicine to combat the shortage of doctors in nursing homes
30.08.2022 10:09
AOK Nordost has started a six-month pilot project in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania together with nursing homes, doctors and the telemedicine provider MedKitDoc. In the project, the most common family doctor examinations for nursing home residents are carried out entirely via video conference. The goal: Against the background of a shortage of skilled workers, a lack of networking and, in some cases, long distances, good medical care should be maintained in nursing homes.
“As a health insurance company, we are breaking new ground,” says Timo Behrendt, eHealth expert at AOK Nordost. “The potential of digitalization is still being used far too little, especially in care.” The need is particularly high there: those in need of care need intensive and continuous medical care. “But there are fewer and fewer doctors, especially in rural areas. That's why we also rely on digital tools in care that have real benefits, because we want to continue to enable good medical care in nursing homes," says Timo Behrendt, eHealth expert at AOK Nordost.
The MedKitDoc platform enables the most common general practitioner consultations to be carried out via video conference with the simultaneous integration of various medical devices. Only certified medical devices are used. Using an app for mobile devices with iOS or Android operating systems, the collected data such as ECG, blood oxygen and much more is transmitted to the doctor in real time during the video conference. The stethoscope has a special meaning:
“Until now, the examination options in a video conference were very limited; patients often still had to go to the doctor’s office or hospital. Among other things, our platform makes it possible for the first time to listen to heart and lung sounds in a video conference using a stethoscope,” says Dorian Koch, CEO and founder of MedKitDoc.
“I hope for a significant improvement in the exchange of medical data between the patients in the nursing homes and myself as the treating doctor,” says Monique Salchow-Gille, internist in Friedland and doctor at the Friedland senior living park. “I want to be as comprehensive and up-to-date as possible about the condition of my patients and be able to act promptly if necessary. However, the distances are very long, especially in rural areas. MedKitDoc can solve this problem because I have telemedical access to all important vital signs regardless of location and can therefore make informed decisions. And: By eliminating travel times - for example, a nursing home is 75 kilometers away - I gain time that I can use to look after more patients. The need is great.”
“We expect MedKitDoc to provide more intensive medical care for residents and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions,” says Katharina Friesse, facility manager at the Friedland senior living park. In addition, special training on both the software and the telemedical devices is intended to expand the nursing staff's skills: “The nursing staff's ability to react quickly in acute situations is strengthened. By integrating the doctor into telemedicine, the nursing staff can react more quickly and thus provide our residents with more security.”
First positive experiences
“We have already had some positive experiences in our nursing home,” says Erik Müske, facility manager at the AWO senior center “Theodor Fontane” in Oderberg. “Through short-term coordination with the family doctor via MedKitDoc, a visit to a specialist and a hospital admission could be avoided.” In addition to the short-term consultation with the doctor, there are also two appointments per week on which the doctor is available for the examination via MedKitDoc: “ This is a big advantage for our residents who are hardly mobile. This gives them the opportunity to report complaints or have the course of the disease examined. This does not replace on-site medical visits, but it does make it easier to access medical care and increases its efficiency.”
The pilot project is part of the AOK initiative “City.Country.Healthy. for better rural healthcare”. To this end, AOK Nordost, together with local partners, is involved in numerous projects that essentially pursue three approaches: obtaining necessary care, overcoming distances and providing special support to patients with special needs. For this purpose, the health insurance fund has developed tailor-made programs that demonstrably improve care, especially in rural areas.