- Asthma and other respiratory conditions are the third biggest cause of death in the UK and cost the NHS more than £3b in 2022.
- A Cambridge-based Health Tech company has developed a new technology that will revolutionise patient understanding to improve life-long condition management.
- electronRx says the new technology will target the 5,000 Emergency Department visits and costs of prescription medications associated with Asthma saving hundreds of millions for the NHS.
Cambridge-based Health Tech company electronRx has been undertaking studies in healthcare settings worldwide after developing a new technology designed to revolutionise patient condition management through education and real-time information.
Experts at the company have been working alongside leading healthcare providers, payers, and pharmaceutical companies across the globe to develop the new, sub-dermal technology that connects with a patient’s mobile device to record real-time data about life-long conditions.
In the final stages of development, the company targets patients with one of the most common and costly, life-long conditions affecting the NHS, Asthma. Asthma accounts for 5,000 NHS Emergency Department visits every month, with a dramatic 149% increase in admission for children, costing the NHS more than £3bn in 2022.
Asthma causes fear and anxiety in patients, carers, and parents due to the frightening symptoms associated with the approach to a potential attack. However, experts believe that if the patient – or parent of a child – had better education around their condition and could monitor and understand the way their body is changing approaching an issue, visits to the Emergency Department could reduce almost immediately and have huge cost saving for the NHS.
Dr. Bipin Patel, CEO of electronRx, who developed the technology, explains: “The answer to reducing overcrowding in Emergency Departments and the 8am race for a GP appointment lies with the patient. We see all too often patients in a state of heightened anxiety, visiting the Emergency Department to then be released without further intervention in a matter of hours. Why? It is because they do not understand how to manage their condition. Asthma is a costly example of this. Many of the thousands of admissions to the ED every month are completely unnecessary, with many patients being released with no more intervention than the reassurance of the nurse or consultant. electronRx has been working to create a technology that gives the patient the required understanding of their condition, providing them with the ability to monitor essential bio-signs – much like diabetic patients can monitor their blood sugar – allowing them to manage their condition with correctly administered interventions, such as the use of an inhaler.”
Aside from the benefits to the patient, the technology also aids healthcare providers and third-party stakeholders. The data is collected securely with the patient’s mobile device, storing data 24/7 to form a unique yet powerful insight into the condition, its progress or recession over time and how effectively the patient manages it.
Dr Patel explains: “Asthma is a prevalent condition in the UK and around the globe, affecting adults and children alike. Healthcare professionals, over the years, have learned much about triggers and causes of attacks. What we have developed now is the next evolution in data collection about any condition that can have life-long implications for the patient. The GP can access the data to monitor the patient, reducing the need for as many appointments for routine tests. Healthcare providers can give the patient a more personal understanding of their condition and provide caregivers with more tailored advice by developing more educated condition management programmes to prevent worsening symptoms. It will show the efficacy of interventions – such as using an inhaler. It will identify if the patient is obtaining the correct dose from the drug, which will identify if the patient, as is the case in most, is misusing it (or not at all). The positive implications across the entire UK healthcare system are phenomenal and exciting and will go a long to address the issues faced by our NHS. But more importantly, as usage grows, the billions of bytes of data and insight collected across the globe will provide healthcare researchers and scientists with more detailed and real-time data than ever before.”
electronRx has been undertaking investigations with a range of lifelong conditions through clinical and healthcare partners in the UK and worldwide. The trials have proven the efficacy and legitimacy of the technology, and the company are preparing for a launch into the private sector imminently.
