More than 350 patients, who were being treated in hospital for Covid-19, are now being monitored at home thanks to a technology developed by an Irish digital healthcare company.
PatientMpower, which is based in Dublin's Digital Hub, had originally designed the system to monitor patients with various lung conditions.
However, it's proved invaluable in the fight against coronavirus and is now being used to free up beds for patients with more serious forms of Covid-19.
The home monitoring system, which must be prescribed by a healthcare professional, is now in use in all the main hospitals across the country.
"What this technology does is it helps patients who might otherwise need to stay in hospital for observation to continue to be monitored by the healthcare team to ensure they continue to recover as anticipated," Eamonn Costello, CEO of patientMpower explained.
"The key information that the clinicians are looking for is tracking what's called oxygen saturation. That's a measure of how well the lungs are working and it's an important indicator of the severity of Covid-19.
Patients record the information using a medical device which connects to an app via bluetooth, Mr Costello explained.
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"They also record their temperature and symptoms like breathlessness. The data is then fed back to the hospital via a secure portal."
There are a series of alerts for both the patient and clinicians if the individual's condition deteriorates and they need to be taken back into hospital.
"350 patients have been discharged with this technology in recent weeks. That's 350 patients who would otherwise need to stay in for observation," he said.
That's freeing up significant capacity in the health system which is already under pressure coping with the demands of the pandemic.
