GEORGE NEWS - The TeleICU project at George Hospital won the 'Innovation Harnessing Technology' as well as the 'Trail Blazer' award at the National Batho Pele Awards held in Johannesburg.
The TeleICU project makes use of a double robotic device known as Georgie, which is a telehealth service using digital presence robotics, enhancing critical care access for the Garden Route and Central Karoo districts.
The initiative is a collaboration between George Hospital and Groote Schuur Hospital.
TeleICU connects clinicians in these facilities' respective intensive care units (ICUs), allowing for access to real-time critical care expert, improved decision-making, and knowledge transfer with overall improved patient outcomes.
"This means that a specialist from Groote Schuur is now routinely assisting critical care services in George Hospital via the double robotic device, allowing scarce resources to be allocated elsewhere. The technology has bridged geographical barriers . . ." says Dr Nellis van Zyl Smit, who co-manages the project at George Hospital with Dr Antje van Dorssen.
Van Zyl Smit says the device requires no subscriptions or additional IT infrastructure, which makes the initiative very cost-effective so far.
The project also won second place at the Government Employees Medical Scheme (Gems) Health Awards.
Van Dorssen says as this pilot project evolves, they will consider the impact it has on reducing rates of patient readmission and mortality, average length of stay and rate of transfers, as well as staff and patient satisfaction.
"Building on from the initial telehealth experiences used during the Covid-19 pandemic, we made the decision to innovate and purchase this digital health technology to ensure the best possible care for patients," says Van Dorssen.
Oud-Springbokke: Mervyn November, Christie Noble, Urwin da Silva en Awie Johnson.
Van Zyl Smit says traditionally, critical care outside the metro can be limited and is often very expensive, owing to the current referral systems where further specialised services are located in tertiary healthcare facilities. "In the case of George Hospital, it is the only facility which is capacitated with an ICU in the region.
"This means it caters for a large population, yet still must rely either on specialists travelling to George, or transferring critically ill patients to Cape Town for these life-saving consultations to take place."
He said even though this device is currently focused on critical care services, it has the immense potential of being expanded to other disciplines.
"Innovations such as these in the telemedicine area could make our healthcare services not only more accessible, but importantly, more equitable.
"Due to the current constrained fiscal environment, it is more important than ever to find new ways to improve the quality of health care while also cutting on costs," said Van Zyl Smit.
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