Virtual hospital

BACKGROUND: Remote monitoring technologies show potential to help health professionals deliver preventative interventions which can avoid hospital admissions and allow patients to remain in a home setting. AIMS: To assess whether an Internet of Things (IoT) driven remote monitoring technology, used in the care pathway of community dementia patients in North Warwickshire improved access to care for patients and cost effectiveness. METHOD: Patient level changes to anonymised retrospective healthcare utilisation data were analysed alongside costs...

Introduction: Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is vital, but claustrophobia affects 10% of patients. The metaverse, an immersive virtual and augmented reality environment, has healthcare potential. We present a metaverse-based CMR simulation for claustrophobic patients. Methods: Three cardiomyopathy patients, initially CMR-refusing due to claustrophobia, received training via a virtual reality headset in a metaverse-based virtual hospital. Training efficacy was assessed through questionnaires and anxiety scales...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Recurrence of gastroesophageal varices (GEVs) after sclerotherapy is a public health problem. However, mass screening of recurrence of GEVs through gastroscopy is a high-cost procedure. We aim to evaluate the changes in liver stiffness (LS) over time after endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) and determine its value in predicting the recurrence of GEVs. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-five patients with GEVs who underwent EIS treatment were included in this study...

BACKGROUND: Project ECHO® networks at Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service (CHQHHS) are communities of practice designed to mitigate services and systems fragmentation by building collaborative partnerships addressing priority child and youth health needs. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience the negative impacts of fragmentation in addition to historical challenges of absent or culturally inappropriate health services. Access to culturally safe and responsive services can be improved by engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and similar roles in an online community of practice, supporting the integration of cultural and clinical knowledge and self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers in decisions affecting their health...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether a focused, expert medication management intervention is feasible and potentially effective in preventing anticoagulation-related adverse events for patients transitioning from hospital to home. DESIGN: Randomised, parallel design. SETTING: Medical wards at six hospital sites in southern Ontario, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: Adults 18 years of age or older being discharged to home on an oral anticoagulant (OAC) to be taken for at least 4 weeks...

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on the experiences of patients across all health disciplines, especially those of cancer patients. The study aimed to understand the experiences of cancer patients who underwent surgery during the first two waves of the pandemic at Guy's Cancer Centre, which is a large tertiary cancer centre in London. METHODS: A mixed-methods approach was adopted for this study. Firstly, a survey was co-designed by the research team and a patient study group...

With health and surgery increasingly aided by digital technologies, there exists a growing impetus to understand how such tools must integrate into existing clinical pathways to ensure a positive impact on patient and organisational outcomes. Consequently, this study sought to collate evidence on the use of digital technology in cardiac reperfusion surgeries. We systematically searched three scientific databases for relevant articles. In total, 1,092 articles were retrieved, with 126 screened using inclusion/exclusion criteria, and 21 selected for analysis...

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic saw an acceleration in virtual-visits (VV) for healthcare delivery. However, the impact of virtual care in metabolic/bariatric surgery (MBS) programs is not well described. METHODS: Appointment data from three time-points: pre-pandemic (1/1/19-3/15/20, n = 19,290), pandemic (3/16/20-10/31/21, n = 29,459) and current-state (11/1/21-12/31/2022, n = 24,270) was retrieved in our multi-hospital ambulatory MBS program...

Since the concept of digital twin technology has been put forward, after decades of rapid development and wide application, it has not only made great achievements in many fields, but also brought broader prospects for the development of the medical field. As an important trend in the medical industry, digital twin hospitals play multiple roles by connecting physical hospitals and virtual hospitals and benefit the "patient-medical staff-hospital administrators", highlighting the immeasurable promising application of digital twin technology in smart hospitals...

BACKGROUND: Although patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) must cope with psychological distress and isolation during an extended transplant hospitalization, psychosocial interventions to address these unmet needs are lacking. Virtual reality offers an innovative modality to deliver a patient-centered psychosocial intervention to address psychosocial needs of patients undergoing HSCT. However, there are currently no supportive care interventions leveraging virtual reality in patients undergoing HSCT...

BACKGROUND: Telemedicine has emerged as a potential solution to mitigate the significant greenhouse gas emissions of the healthcare sector. A comprehensive evaluation is required to quantify the environmental benefits of its implementation. OBJECTIVES: The study aims to compare the environmental sustainability of in-person and virtual examinations for heart failure patients. METHODS: A standard life cycle assessment has been applied to quantify the equivalent CO2 of direct and indirect activities required to release a medical examination (virtual or physical) for a patient in an Italian hospital...

STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study. OBJECTIVE: To determine the proportion of referrals diverted by the SVFC from traditional outpatient clinic management. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: The consistent rise in demand for orthopaedic outpatient clinic services is creating marked challenges to the provision of quality care. Virtual fracture clinics for upper and lower limb fractures have reduced the burden on outpatient clinics through telephone-based management of these conditions...

This study aimed to investigate the impact of a common non-synonymous gene variant (C>G, rs738409) in patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing 3 ( PNPLA3 ), leading to the substitution of isoleucine with methionine at position 148 ( PNPLA3 -I148M), on susceptibility to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and explore potential therapeutic nutritional strategies targeting PNPLA3 . It contributed to understanding sustainable dietary practices for managing NAFLD, recently referred to as metabolic-dysfunction-associated fatty liver...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of death. Recent studies have underlined the importance of non-contrast-enhanced chest CT scans not only for emphysema progression quantification, but for correlation with clinical outcomes as well. As about 40 percent of the 300 million CT scans per year are contrast-enhanced, no proper emphysema quantification is available in a one-stop-shop approach for patients with known or newly diagnosed COPD. Since the introduction of spectral imaging (e...

BACKGROUND: Virtual hospitalist programs are rapidly growing in popularity due to worsening clinician shortages and increased pressure for flexible work options. These programs also have the potential to establish sustainable staffing models across multiple hospitals optimizing cost. We aimed to explore the current state of virtual hospitalist services at various health systems, challenges and opportunities that exist in providing virtual care, and future opportunities for these types of services...

BACKGROUND: Allergic rhinitis is a chronic respiratory disorder that significantly impacts patients' quality of life (QoL) and work performance. Pharmacists are recognized as suitable professionals to provide patient education and pharmaceutical care for managing allergic rhinitis patients. However, local clinical practice guidelines, particularly regarding pharmaceutical care in public healthcare institutions, are lacking. This study protocol outlines a randomized controlled trial (RCT) designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a pharmacist-led educational model (AR-PRISE Model) in managing allergic rhinitis in adult patients compared to standard pharmaceutical care...

BACKGROUND: Depression significantly impacts quality of life, affecting approximately 280 million people worldwide. However, only 16.5% of those affected receive treatment, indicating a substantial treatment gap. Immersive technologies (IMTs) such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality offer new avenues for treating depression by creating immersive environments for therapeutic interventions. Despite their potential, significant gaps exist in the current evidence regarding the design, implementation, and use of IMTs for depression care...

BACKGROUND: A Virtual Clinical Pharmacy Service (VCPS) was introduced in selected rural and remote NSW hospitals in 2020 to address a gap in onsite clinical pharmacy services. Follow-up research determined hospital staff and patients at these locations perceived the service as a safe, effective and efficient system for delivering clinical pharmacy services. Community pharmacists are key stakeholders in medication safety and continuity of management in these regions, however, their insight on the VCPS had not yet been sought...

Introduction: Teleconsultations for preoperative evaluation in anesthesiology proved to be feasible during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, widespread implementation of teleconsultations has not yet occurred. Besides time savings and economic benefits, teleconsultations in anesthesia may have the potential to reduce CO2 emissions. Methods: We conducted a life cycle assessment based on prospective surveys to assess the potential environmental benefits of preoperative anesthesia teleconsultations in comparison to the status-quo in-person consultations...

BACKGROUND: Right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) and pulmonary hypertension have been recognized as two important prognostic features in patients with left side heart failure. Current literature does not distinguish between right heart failure (RHF) and RVD, and the two terms are used indiscriminately to describe pulmonary hypertension and RVD as well as clinical sign of RHF. Therefore, the right ventricle (RV) adaptation across the whole spectrum of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) values has been poorly investigated...