The Journal of mHealth Vol 1 Issue 3 (June 2014) | Page 23

The Value of Video in Modern Health and Social Care
For Alasdair Morrison of STAY the
critical element of using video and other
complimentary digital solutions is that it
necessitates the re-engineering of services, thus adding not only the value of
video interactions, but actually making
the underlying services themselves more
efficient.

save nearly half a million pounds in costs
(in the first year of use). By analysing
high-cost learning disability care packages, provided by the Council, Morrison
and his team were able to identify particular cases where care and assistance
could be better provided using telecare
and virtual visits as a means of providing targeted, assistive, at-home, care to
people with learning disabilities, whilst
also supporting those people to become
more independent. The use of the system gave the Council the ability to create
a dedicated video service that was present in each recipients home. The system was then networked across a range
of services that combined to improve
the assisted living solution. This meant
recipients could network with each other
across secure video and audio links, they
also had access to a 24-hour alarm service, should emergency care or advice be
required. The integrated nature of the
solution additionally meant that contact
with care stakeholders, family, and other
support channels could be provided via
the same solution.
The potential though is even greater.
Sandwell have identified other preventative and social care services that can
all be provided via the system at the
single point of access, for example housing management, tenancy support and
community services. This means that a
range of services can be accessed by the
user, and multiple agencies can collaborate and use the system to administer
services, which in turn reduces the unit
cost of having the hardware located in
a property.

The aim for Sandwell is to develop an
inclusive system that deploys across
access points located both in residential
homes, and at various convenient community locations like libraries, leisure
centres, and council offices, etc. They
also intend to integrate the system across
all community health and social prevention teams, through the establishment
of a Multi-Agency Prevention Platform.
With video at the heart of the interaction
this solution will combine existing services to provide a streamlined point of
reference for interactive access to health
and social care.
Delivering a package of services via a
single system not only reduces costs,
but also strengthens the effectiveness of
each component offering, as well as fostering cross-discipline and multi-agency
cooperation. This prevents duplication
of resource commitment and better
overall strategic management.
Other councils in the UK are equally
recognising the benefits that can be
derived from initiating this type of preventative, in-community and in-home
care, and are beginning to explore these
across an interesting range of care circumstances. Calderdale Council recently
trialed the v-connect system as a means
of providing relational care to out-ofarea residents and found the system to
be extremely useful in building relationships between their care providers and
the care recipients. The Council is now
exploring other cases that may benefit
from this type of interaction.

This sentiment is echoed in primary and
secondary healthcare. Dr Richard Pope
of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust
UK describes the motivation for video
and digital solutions as not being led by
a desire to negate or necessarily reduce
admissions but instead it is about delivering clinical efficiencies by ensuring that
care is provided in timely, relevant situations. Airedale have, over the past 9 years,
successfully delivered a digital strategy
built upon video services. Their initial
work involving the provision of clinical
video consultations to prison offenders,
has significantly grown to encompass a
range of remote care and consultation
services, across a number of different
medical disciplines.
All care situations involve multiple stakeholders. One of the critical elements to
deploying a successful digital health solution is being able to offer a system that is
sufficiently flexible enough to meet the
different demands of these stakeholders.
This is particularly critical where video
is being used to manage patient care
and provide remote consultations. It is
important that the systems are available
at the right time, in the right place, and
via a method that fits with the needs of
the user. One way to look at these interactions is to break down the relevant
connections involved in the care continuum into component relationships:
Professional to professional communication; professionals to a person at home
or in a care home; and, where people are
supported by family or carers. Each of
these relationship will require slightly
different operating work flows, and it is
therefore imperative to establish protocols along with service level agreements
to ensure successful operation.
As part of Airedale's Right Care strategy
they are introducing a raft of services
that enable patien