ACTIVITIES :: eTen :: Projects :: Projects of the Month :: MCC
October 2006 Project of the Month: MCC
Issues being addressed
Hospital resources are precious and under continual pressure, consequently innovative ways of reducing the time for hospitalising patients, whilst maintaining high quality care, are being continuously explored. Remote patient monitoring can reduce the time needed in hospital while providing care continuity and thus realise a number of therapeutic, social and economic benefits for both patients and carers.
Oncology patients need an "holistic care" approach that embraces physical, psychological, social, spiritual and family aspects as part of an active therapy. These active therapies are often combined with support that begins after the initial period within the palliative care or in the terminal phase of the disease. It is therefore necessary to devise, and to put into practice, assistance models that are tailored to the needs of these patients. Such approaches are not alternatives to hospitalisation but are complementary and enable full coverage of the clinical and social needs of the sufferers in a complete way. Transferring assistance from the hospital to the home is seen as natural development and an appropriate use of ICT to assist sufferers in a specialised way in response to individual needs.
The eTEN MCC project undertakes a trial of a "Medical Care Continuity" service that provides 24/7 support to patients suffering from cancer and who have been discharged from the hospital. The service implements an "at home hospitalisation process" with tele-assistance and links with medical equipment that supports both treatment and monitoring. A call centre coordinates both medical and non-medical interventions in the home with the support of an assisting hospital.
Main objectives of the project
The main objective of the project is to validate the market potential of the service and to develop the necessary investment plan for the future deployment of the Medical Care Continuity service in Europe.
The project will first analyse the market size for patients suffering from cancer and chronic pathologies. To propose a viable model, MCC investigates the cost of each service component and the share of these expenses between the patient, the national social security system and insurance companies. The project will also develop the necessary partnerships between all stakeholders to pave the way towards a smooth deployment of the service in the targeted countries of the trial.
The pilots will involve all actors of the value chain including hospitals, doctors and nurses, suppliers of hospital-at-home equipment, the National Health Authorities as well as unions of hospital-at-home structures. The trials are being conducted in Belgium, France, Italy and Poland, representing a range of hospital models (public, private and mixed).
Service description
The Medical Care Continuity service is aimed at patients after acute in-hospital care, who continue recovering at home under the supervision of the hospital.
Once the patient has been registered as beneficiary of the MCC service, the remote assistance equipment is installed permanently at the hospital, at the call centre and at the patient’s home for the duration of the treatment. Video monitoring is only used at required times with the patient's agreement. The patient can contact the call centre, accept a call or hang up by using a remote control. The call centre or hospital can remotely trace the patient's camera and take photos if appropriate for a better assessment of the situation.
A carer monitors all services at the patient's home. Similarly, the hospital specialist in charge of the patient will have daily contact with the patient through “virtual medical visits”. Due to the patient’s shared medical file held by the hospital, all care givers will follow the same medical care protocol, which is updated in real time.
Achievements
The experimental trial phase is currently ongoing in Poland and France and is also starting in Belgium. In Italy, some additional tests are still needed before trials can commence. Patients in the current pilot services, and their families, are very satisfied with the service and, medical staff assisting the patients have also given positive feedback.
The “lessons learnt” during the preparation of the experimental phase are being recorded as good practices. They are mainly related to interoperability issues between different actors and countries and to the management of a complex value chain. The identified barriers and the country by country service customisation are also considered as significant outcomes of the project. Economic-financial evaluations are ongoing to assess the service from an economic viability stand point. Data on patients is collected on the basis of standard clinical evaluation protocols which are designed to monitor the health care and psychological status of the patients.
The project will produce a comprehensive report on their findings and prospects for sustaining and expanding the service. In preparation, an International Workshop was already held in Paris in November 2005 to present the MCC concept.
Expected benefits by the end of the project
The project will measure the existing demand for the Medical Care Continuity service in Belgium, France, Italy and Poland and its expected health care cost reduction for the national health care systems. Special attention will be dedicated to the benefits for the patients suffering from oncological or other chronic pathologies. The business model and business plan resulting from this study will help the project partners evaluate the wider deployment potential and future requirements of the service.
Partners
Italy
Inter Partner Assistenza Servizi S.P.A. , Rome
Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico Tor Vergata, Rome
Azienda Ospedaliera Le Molinette San Giovanni Battista, Turin
SGC - Sviluppo Gestione Controllo srl, Rome
France
AXA Assistance France, Issy-les-Moulineaux
Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble 1
Clinique du Parc, Saint Priest en Jarez
The France Telecom Group, Paris
EUROGROUP SA, Paris La Défense
AL_Consulting, Versailles
Belgium
INTERPARTNER ASSISTANCE SA, Brussels
Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc, Brussels
EUROGROUP CONSULTING, Brussels
Poland
The John Paul II Hospital, Krakow
Telekomunikacja Polska S.A., Warsaw
Reference Data
Project's website:
http://www.eten-mcc.org
Contract Type: Market Validation
Start Date: February 2005
End Date: May 2007
Duration: 28 Months
Contact: monica.rabuffetti@ip-assistance.com; gilles.conchon@axa-assistance.com