“Improving Patient Comfort and Convenience with Home Health Care and Monitoring – Bravis Hospital’s Better Home Program”

2023-05-23 13:41:52

It is not always necessary to go to the hospital for specialized care. According to project leader Fleur Suijkerbuijk, an appointment in the hospital can have a significant impact on someone’s life, for example because they have to take time off from work or because a patient cannot travel to the hospital independently. And that while some appointments only take a short time. That is why it can sometimes be more convenient and more relaxing to receive care in the familiar environment of home.

Measure at home

Treatments such as blood transfusions and dialysis are increasingly being performed at home. But also for monitoring and aftercare, you do not necessarily have to go to the hospital. These tasks can just as well be performed at home or with a care partner nearby. This provides greater convenience and comfort for the patient.

When measuring at home, patients receive measuring equipment with which they can carry out their own measurements. These measurements are then shared with the healthcare providers via the Thuismeten app Bravis. This gives both the patient and the caregiver a better insight into the health condition, so that deterioration can be detected more quickly. This contributes to the prevention of visits to the emergency department and acute admissions.

Jac Balemans, a patient of the Bravis hospital, said that he found it exciting to use the app for the first time because he grew up in a time when the computer did not yet exist. “So it took some searching. In the end it’s like learning to ride a bike, once you can do it you can’t forget it.” As an advantage of measuring at home, he mentioned the ease, but also the fact that he no longer had to go to the hospital.

Action when needed

Mustafa Ezzahti, vascular internist at Bravis, explains: “If the measurements give reason, we will contact you earlier than at the regular appointment. This results in better health outcomes. Research shows that measuring at home leads to improved compliance, increased quality of care and ultimately better health. That is what we strive for in healthcare.”

Balemans adds: “If something is wrong, they have immediate insight and can take action. Moreover, you can also see for yourself whether your values ​​are too high or too low. I wouldn’t want to go back to the old way. I think this is an ideal solution.”

Faster recovery

In addition to measuring at home, the Bravis hospital also brings other hospital treatments to the patient’s home or to a nearby Bravis point. The aim is to integrate hospital care into the patient’s environment as much as possible. This could include administering a course of antibiotics via an intravenous drip or disconnecting a chemotherapy pump.

The big advantage of this is that the patient feels less like a traditional patient, can maintain their own routine and often recover faster. This approach gives patients a greater role in their own treatment process and allows them to take more control over their care. It promotes their involvement and gives them the opportunity to actively participate in their own care process.

home measurement applications

Home measurement is also suitable for patients with heart failure. After all, they are regularly sent to the hospital for check-ups, while they are only snapshots. Measuring at home offers the advantage that it provides a considerable number of extra checkpoints, so that both the patient and the practitioners get a better grip on the condition.

Measuring at home is also suitable for use in pregnant women. Pregnant women who are dealing with gestational diabetes now have the option of home measurement at the BovenIJ Hospital. As a result, they need to go to the hospital less often for check-ups. With the help of the Home Measurement app, they can not only check their blood sugar values ​​themselves on a daily basis, but also share these values ​​with the healthcare providers in the hospital via the app. This makes paper registration a thing of the past.

More about Bravis Better Home is here to find.