The University of Rochester is a healthcare institution located in Rochester, NY. Their mission is to provide highly advanced medical care, discovering cures for the world’s most challenging diseases, and educating future doctors and dentists. Their footprint in the northern New York region is comprised of Medical Education, Research and Patient Care Facilities. University of Rochester Hospitals include: Strong Memorial, Golisano Children’s Hospital, Highland Hospital, FF Thompson Hospital, Jones Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Himabindu Vidula, Medical Director of Heart Transplantation and Dr. Spencer Rosero, Director of the Clinical Research Center set out to find a remote care platform that had the capabilities they needed to monitor their cardiovascular and heart failure patients, many of whom utilize the LVAD (left ventricular assist device) to support heart functionality.

The Challenge

The goal of each study is to provide tailor-made exercise plans for each of their heart failure patients without having to increase caregiver capacity. Heart failure patients and LVAD patients are at unusually high risk for medical emergencies, continuous monitoring of these patients could significantly reduce fatalities and adverse events, and improve their quality of life. Additionally, personalized exercise and treatment plans assist in a quick and successful recovery after surgery. While every patient is different, exercise plans should reflect those differences.

The Solution

Since 2015, Datos Health has supported the growing need to monitor and care for patients remotely while maintaining high-quality standards of care and patient satisfaction. The Datos Health platform enables quick and easy deployment of personalized remote care processes and workflows. The device agnostic solution facilitates connected care delivery across any clinical condition, patient profile, and treatment plan, significantly increasing patient engagement and helping to reduce adverse events. Datos Health can be used as a standalone platform or integrated with any EMR. Care teams can choose from pre-packaged remote care programs which can be customized as needed, or collaborate with their dedicated Datos Health Client Success manager to design their own program.

We were able to personalize the Datos Health app for our research study of home-based cardiac rehabilitation in patients supported by a left ventricular assist device. Using the app, we have been able to help our patients increase their daily activity level and overall health.

– Dr. Vidula, University of Rochester

Dr. Vidula, Dr. Rosero and the other caregivers on their team leverage the Datos Health platform to stay connected to each step of their patients’ care journey. The MOVE-LVAD study monitors patients who have been diagnosed with heart failure and utilize the LVAD (left ventricular assist device) device to support heart functionality. In this study, patients are sent symptom surveys to monitor the intensity of exercise and also have their steps tracked via a smart device of their choosing. Exercise routines are prescribed bi-weekly by an Exercise Physiologist that customizes the fitness regimen based on data received from connected devices through the Datos Health platform.

The customized exercise regimens are vital for heart failure and LVAD patients to recover from chronic disease and improve cardiovascular function, body composition, flexibility and mobility.

For the Optimed-GDMT Arm study, heart failure patients have their symptoms monitored closely through regularly scheduled symptom surveys. Optimed surveys are sent weekly in order to determine if a change in treatment plan is necessary. Datos Health gives Dr. Vidula and Dr. Rosero the insight into their patients’ symptoms on an ongoing basis, affording them the luxury to be able to make quick, data-driven changes to care plans.

After a patient has been remotely monitored for six months, they receive The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ survey) that is programmed into the Datos Health platform. The comprehensive questionnaire for CHF patients is designed to provide care teams with greater insight into patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQol); it quantifies, in a disease-specific fashion, physical limitation, symptoms (frequency, severity and recent change over time), overall quality of life, social interference and self-efficacy.

Benefits

Heart failure patients at University of Rochester are continuously monitored and their steps are tracked via a smart device of their choosing, which helps improve patient participation and program adherence. LVAD patients are automatically sent “Post-Walk” Borg surveys through the Datos Health user-friendly app, while GDMT Arm patients receive KCCQ surveys along with other questionnaires and symptom surveys that are prescribed by the care team. If a patients symptoms change, the care team is alerted and can make timely changes to their treatment plan, reducing adverse events.

Datos Health facilitates enhanced patient engagement while also alleviating the care teams workload. By recreating certain steps in a clinical workflow within the Datos Health platform and automating many of those steps, care teams can determine a patients recovery progress, monitor pain, ensure optimal health and effortlessly provide them with personalized care plans.