Awarded:
Cited as outstanding practice throughout the CQC (Care Quality Commission) report, Bay Medical Group, formally Coastal Medical Group are held up as an exemplar of best practice for the use of Flo with long term conditions.
“Patients at the practice with long term conditions could have their conditions both short and long term, monitored at arm’s length by enrolling on the practices ‘Florence’ system. This system allowed professional support to patients in their own home by means of a tele-health service.
Patients added their information and sent the text which was paid for by the practice to a central hub where they were replied to following a strict guide set up by professionals. They were given feedback such as readings are normal or a little high or low and offered advice which may be to contact the practice or repeat test in the case of blood sugar monitoring if the reading was slightly outside parameters.
This system could be accessed anywhere in the world by patients so there was constant monitoring of their condition available.
Patients were informed this was not an emergency service and should they feel unwell they must contact the practice. We did not speak to patients who were using this programme however staff were able to share with the team some patients who were currently making use of this programme.
Patients with controlled diabetes were entering their blood sugar results and receiving advice on their readings. One diabetic patient was being reminded to take his medication via this service.
Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) were having their oxygen levels and sputum monitored by ‘Florence’ and this had resulted in them not needing to attend the practice as often.
Patients requiring regular blood pressure or weight monitoring could use this system which had proven to be more convenient for them rather than having to attend the practice between reviews. This allowed the practice to be more responsive to the patients needs.
The medicine management team monitored patients who were prescribed an increasing dose of medication and contacted them to ensure they were managing their increases in a timely manner. This had proved effective in ensuring patients complied with their medication and ensured optimisation of all medication.”
Visit the CQC for the original CQC Article and Report .
