FibriCheck
NHS problem
One in five strokes are caused by atrial fibrillation (AF), making it a silent killer of over one million people in the UK. Its intermittent nature leaves an estimated 400,000 people undiagnosed in the UK as many don’t experience symptoms until it’s too late.
Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent over 75% of these strokes offering valuable in-year savings, but due to cost and availability of hardware, ownership of a self-monitoring device is limiting for many -resulting in unnecessary office visits and A&E admissions of society’s most vulnerable and economically disadvantaged.
The solution
FibriCheck is a certified solution for symptomatic/ known-AF patients, and a cost-effective, scalable detection tool for asymptomatic/ intermittent patients. Equitable remote self-monitoring facilitates better case-finding, intervention and management of worsening CVD. Real-time data analytics improves patient outcomes by enabling care-continuity, efficient service delivery/ resource allocation, shortened diagnostic and referral wait-times.
Impact
Follow-up: In less than 2 months, the Telecheck-AF project enabled physicians in over 36 centres across Europe (six and counting in the UK) to remotely monitor post stroke and ablation, and cardioversion patients. These providers track intermittent relapses, procedure outcomes and managing medication, all without the patient having to come in. Patients report increased confidence, safety and comfort in self-monitoring at home. By offering a tool that empowers patients to self-manage, providers are ensuring continuity of care for high-risk patients.
Detection: A 7day FibriCheck QR access code was published in local Belgium newspapers. Around 65,000 people participated, performing over 600,000 measurements in a week detecting AF in more than 800 people causing them to consult their doctor.