22 June, 2015
Telehealth education specialist Leslie Fernyhough demonstrates the Silhouette wound surveillance system.
Electronic wound assessment system in road trip across US to demonstrate how telehealth innovations can deliver accessible healthcare to veterans.
ARANZ Medical’s (aranzmedical.wpengine.com) wound care innovation Silhouette, which enables wound sufferers to be assessed by specialists at a distance, is part of a telehealth showcase touring the United States.
Silhouette is being demonstrated alongside some of the world’s biggest brands on the TED (Telehealth Education Delivered) truck organised by Iron Bow Technologies. TED is scheduled to make more than 200 stops this year, including 150 Veterans Affairs hospitals.
Telehealth is an important theme in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ outreach to its patients, many of whom are in remote or rural locations. The VA is the United States’ largest healthcare provider. Telehealth is a global trend tipped to grow from just $6 billion in 2013 to around $24 billion worldwide by 2019 according to a recent report from BCC Research.
ARANZ Medical CEO Dr Bruce Davey says Silhouette’s inclusion on TED with some of the biggest international technology and medical brands is recognition of the value of telehealth in wound care. “Many patients with wounds are in remote or rural locations, or receiving care in the home. Being able to assess their wounds at a distance can save providers significant amounts of money, and minimize the discomfort to patients,” he says.
Silhouette is an FDA-approved advanced wound surveillance, 3D measurement, and documentation system providing accurate wound information to support better wound care management and increased productivity in clinical practice.
Practitioners can use Silhouette’s portable wound camera to capture wound assessment information at the patient’s bedside and then log it on a secure database. Multi-disciplinary teams can view these assessments remotely via the Internet, accurately track progress, and make decisions about what to do next. The system replaces manual measurement which can be inaccurate and uncomfortable for the patient.
Dr Davey says chronic wounds are a growing issue in healthcare due to the increasing prevalence of diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, which results in wounds for 15% of sufferers. Around $US25b is spent worldwide treating chronic wounds.
He says the key to Silhouette’s success is that it markedly improves the wound assessment process by objectively tracking healing progress over time and enabling collaboration among healthcare providers and patients. “Patients with wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg ulcers require very active wound management to reduce further risks and amputation. Accurate laser measurements give wound care nurses immediate feedback on how wounds are healing over time to ensure the most appropriate treatment.”
Dr Davey says telehealth is increasingly being embraced as it can improve patient wellbeing, reduce mortality and emergency admission rates, and reduce healthcare costs. “Our technology is designed to be easy-to-use so it can be used in a wide variety of settings including telehealth.”
TED is equipped with technologies that enable telehealth in a range of areas including mental health, rural health, surgery, telehealth wound care, audiology, primary care, non-invasive cardio, and dermatology. Other TED partners include Microsoft, Intel, Verizon, Cisco and Samsung.
TED organizer Iron Bow is one of the largest providers of information technology to the US Department of Veterans’ Affairs and is a Silhouette distributor in the US. The company has supported the VA’s globally recognized initiative in telehealth and provides security, data center, collaboration, networking and mobility solutions to Military Health Service Medical Treatment Centers around the world.
Visit the TED2go.com website for an itinerary, and follow @TED2go on Twitter and Instagram.
Read this account of Bedford VA’s telehealth plans and TED visit on patch.com.
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