Digital technologies for post-operative remote care and rehabilitation of thoracic and cardiac surgery patients

Novel digital technologies enable new forms of care. This project investigates the use of digital technologies for remote care and specifically aims to understand how such technologies can be scaled to support large numbers of patients and a variety of conditions for high-quality services. This is studied in the context of remote care for post-operative thoracic and cardiac surgery patients in both Norway and China. Remote care is relevant as the number of patients with chronic conditions is increasing, and the current healthcare system cannot deal with such demand. This project investigates the scaling of a digital solution for remote care which is based on a health management cloud platform technology and connected devices (IoT). This solution supports a collaborative care model, where patients and care givers interact remotely. This solution is in use in Norway and is currently tested in China. Preliminary results show that remote care solution require the development of specific competence for health personnel and also for patients. Health personnel works usually on a tight schedule and remote care come in addition to this. Patients also need to master the new technology to be able to produce relevant data for the remote interaction. It is important that the novel remote care services are designed with attention to the contextual aspects of the health organization in which they are implemented. The project is currently studying various pilots for remote care in Norway and China. The research focuses on the how the pilots are set up, organized and what is the early experience of health professionals. The project is also conducting research on how to set in place a digital infrastructure to support remote care at municipal, regional and national level. The current research works with a platform architecture approach, and how such approach support scaling of remote care services.

The overall aim of this research project is to investigate how digital technologies can be scaled, adapted and evaluated to ensure high-quality remote care for post-operative thoracic and cardiac surgery patients in both Norway and China. This include developing services, processes, and adapting technical solutions to achieve scalable high-quality digital remote care services, beneficial to patients, medical service providers, and society. Remote health and care is expected to become a key solution to the major medical and economic challenges, both in China and Norway, of following up patients with chronic diseases, including heart and lung conditions. An integrated collaborative solution is proposed, based on a health management cloud platform technology and connected devices (IoT). The focus of this project is to combine technological, medical, economic, design and management expertise in testing, adjusting and validating the digital remote care solution with post-operative thoracic and cardiac surgery patients. To the best of our knowledge, this has not previously been done, and thus represents potential for groundbreaking inter-disciplinary research and significant innovation potential with high value for public services and commercialization potential for industry partners. Clinical (RCT) studies with Chinese hospitals and patients will be conducted, informed by the experience and previous studies from remote care in Norway, assessing the medical and economic value of the solution. Comparative studies of the use and integration of the solution in Norway and China will be done, and insights will be instrumental to enable a scalable technologies and service models.