As a partner on the iHelp project, focused on the Early Identification and Prevention of Pancreatic Cancer, Kodar is responsible for developing a rule-based application monitoring each person’s health condition and prescribing personalized recommendations to improve it. The tool also features a real-time assessment of multiple health parameters and allows for the personal engagement of users to stimulate adoption and continuous usage.
Addressing Patients’ and Healthcare Institutions’ Biggest Challenges
To implement prevention or treatment campaigns for Pancreatic Cancer diseases hospitals and patients are facing major issues that limit the impact and the effectiveness of healthcare support.
So far, it has been nearly impossible for all patients who are or must be subjects of health checks and treatment to get the attention and time needed for comprehensive analysis and personalized care. Thanks to the new platform, clinicians can now leverage a rule engine that is part of the platform and create personalized risk mitigation or prevention plans considering the patient’s specific condition, lifestyle habits, and health parameters.
On the other hand, patients are often reluctant to undergo specific treatment or demonstrate unexpected behavior during consultations. Some even have concerns about visiting a specialist and taking timely measures against dangerous diseases. The tool helps clinicians set up automated data monitoring, evaluation, and online personalized risk communication with patients so that they stay informed about their condition at any time.
There is another common issue addressed by the platform and related to common digital healthcare applications that offer a generic approach and user experience to everyone. Namely, the tool lets healthcare specialists tailor specific personalized messages to patients based on behavior, and thus keep them engaged with time.
An Innovation Breakthrough in Healthcare
The product is one of a few addressing early detection and prevention of Pancreatic Cancer diseases but stands out with its features and benefits such as:
- Remote monitoring and evaluation of targeted patient’s improvement and quality of life.
- Real-time patients’ engagement which is essential for the high adoption and usage rates of the platform.
- A big step towards following a personalized pancreatic cancer risk mitigation and prevention plan.
The Monitoring & Alerting component developed is part of a comprehensive web-based Decision Support System for clinicians, which can be utilized as a Single point of Information during pancreatic cancer treatment.
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Also, the automation of health-related data processing and evaluation enables clinicians to make decisions faster in critical situations during the treatment of patients. It is important to note that the component meets specific requirements in the context of ethical regulations where communication on the progress towards personalized targets is being reviewed by healthcare professionals before being sent to a patient’s mobile phone. Overall, the features of the tool also contribute not only to driving strong engagement but also to increasing the level of trust by patients in the innovative platform and the treatment they get.
Feedback from Healthcare Professionals
The tool has already been reviewed and reflected on by healthcare professionals in Bulgaria, part of the network of the Medical University of Plovdiv. Together with iHelp team representatives they have tested and discussed the following processes of using the application:
- iHelp platform login and identification
- Patient enrollment
- Editing patient information
- Patient information visualization
- Setting personalized targets for risk identification and risk mitigation
- Setting personalized recommendations and feedback based on targets
- Personalized recommendation review and approval by healthcare professionals
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Overall, the healthcare professionals suggested potential new features to be planned and offered their views on some components that might further improve the work of their colleagues.
In addition, they acknowledged the huge effort put into the system and what has been achieved so far. In their opinion, the system has the potential to be extended to serve other types of cancer treatment and not be restricted to pancreatic cancer only. They look forward to seeing how the project develops further to cover additional processes and steps planned as part of the iHelp project.
“Innovations like the iHelp Monitoring & Alerting component for remote patient monitoring systems have the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry. By leveraging the latest technological advancements, these systems can improve both the accessibility and quality of healthcare.
We are proud of our contribution to a solution for reducing healthcare costs and improving patient outcomes, which have a long-term positive impact on society and business.”, shares Pencho Stefanov, Project Lead at Kodar, part of Strypes Group.
