SingHealth has introduced a new app, MyCare, for patients to be able to make specific requests without the need of pressing a call button.
This pilot programme is being tested amongst patients at the Singapore General Hospital. The app is installed in iPads which are placed by the patient’s bed. Patients can make clear requests like asking for a glass of water or assistance to go to the toilet.
This saves the time that nurses take to attending to their patients by knowing their specific requests or concerns.
Functions of the app
The app also gives them immediate access to their medical information and daily care routine.
The medical information includes the patient’s diagnosis, test results and of the medication they consume.
The app also comes with a messaging function which allows patients to communicate any doubts they have about their medical examination results with their nurses.
Patient confidentiality of their personal information and communication with staff is ensured by giving each of them a unique password that must be entered each time to access the data on the app.
Upon a patient’s discharge, their information will be erased from the iPad to ensure that no other new patient gains access to it and that no data is left stored in the device.
Professor Ivy Ng, group chief executive of SingHealth, said: “Digital technologies can improve the way we communicate information to patients and their caregivers, and empower them to be partners in their own care.”
Future plans
SingHealth has plans to implement the use of this app to all patients in SGH. It is currently only being used at two of its wards. It also plans to roll it out to the other hospitals under the SingHealth group- Changi General Hospital, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the National Heart Centre Singapore. All of this is aimed to be done by 2021.
There are also plans to enhance the current functions of the app. Inclusion of rehabilitation exercises recommended by the physiotherapists and occupational therapists are in the talks.
Other innovations
A team of nurses in SGH are also conducting trials of a wireless wearable biosensor that allows automatic and continuous monitoring of patients’ vital signs – heart rate, respiratory rate, and skin temperature.
This biosensor is best used for patients who have just gone through a surgery or blood transfusion. While nurses would typically have to conduct checks on these patients every two hours, this palm-sized device can be placed on the patient’s chest instead to retrieve real-time results.
In the case that a patient’s condition worsens, the sensor will trigger alerts to the nurse.
This biosensor can be set up in three minutes which only needs to be replaced once every three days.
The pilot programme for the biosensor was launched in June and is to run for nine months.
