Pfizer Health Solutions announced on 10 March 2011 the launch of OwnHealth Choice, a pioneering system for creating and running telephone based self care programmes for people with long-term conditions. Supporting data demonstrate the effectiveness of telephone based care with significant reductions in time spent in hospital and in costs of care.
The programme is commissioned and delivered locally and is aligned with key NHS priorities to improve the quality of care, increase health efficiencies and reduce the number of episodes of unscheduled treatment.
Andrew Donald, chief executive of NHS Birmingham East and North said, “These programmes are not designed to replace face-to-face patient and healthcare professional interactions, but to provide a support framework allowing more extensive self care, improving the patient experience and driving down long term healthcare costs.”
OwnHealth Choice consists of three comprehensive training and implementation modules, ‘Self Care Coaching’, ‘Long Term Conditions’ training and ‘Setting up OwnHealth in Your Area’. OwnHealth Choice contains everything needed to deliver the OwnHealth self care system. It has been developed to help people with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure.
OwnHealth has been running in Birmingham, Nottingham and Walsall for several years. The OwnHealthChoice e-learning system allows local commissioners to implement the programme in their own locality using existing resources. OwnHealth Choice can be commissioned on any scale, giving localities the options of how, when and where to target the programme.
“The data from existing OwnHealthservices show significant associations between enrolment and reductions in the number of hospital spells and cost of care for patients with heart failure, COPD, diabetes and coronary heart disease,” said Jo Wales, head of Pfizer Health Solutions UK. “For people with heart failure, the programme correlated to a 28% reduction in the time spent in hospitals, and savings of £1,031 – or 39% – per patient.”
Under the self care programme patients and specifically trained nurses work together to develop personalised care plans which include motivational coaching and support, educational materials and a hand held care book – all designed to help patients change and improve health related behaviours. As well as improving clinical measures and providing financial savings, people who are in the programme find that having access to a Care Manager makes a great difference to their ability to manage their care.
To find out more about the benefits remote care can deliver to clinicians and patients, go to www.ownhealthchoice.co.uk
