One of the biggest challenges facing the NHS is the ever-growing patient waiting list for a variety of urgent and non-urgent treatments, exacerbated by numerous lockdowns and restrictions to day-to-day life as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. While the pandemic is far from over, the consistent fall in Covid-19-related hospital admissions since the start of the year has enabled policymakers to refocus their attention towards measures aiming to reduce the patient backlog – meaning cardiac conditions have come to the fore, just in time for National Heart Month.
To put into perspective just how substantial the NHS waiting list is, approximately 5.7 million people are awaiting treatment to some degree as of November 2021 – that’s just shy of the population of Denmark. The figures are equally as stark when focussing on cardiology too, considering there were 470,000 fewer new prescriptions of preventative cardiovascular medications in the first year of the pandemic, a figure that is expected to lead to approximately 12,000 extra heart attacks and strokes in England over the next five years. Considering the sheer quantity currently waiting – and the fact that 1.5 million would-be patients join it every month – the need for creative thinking cannot be stated enough.
As has been proven time and time again, digital healthcare providers have made huge strides in their particular niche, and iRhythm is no different.
National Heart Month
Every year, the British Heart Foundation raises awareness about cardiovascular diseases and heart disease by declaring February as National Heart Month. This is particularly important as the British Heart Foundation has estimated that at least 270,000 people over the age of 65 in the UK are likely to have undiagnosed atrial fibrillation, a heart disease characterised by an irregular and fast pulse. It’s clear that more widespread availability to test those with suspected heart conditions is a necessity, and this is where med-tech organisations play a pivotal role in the everchanging healthcare landscape.
iRhythm is a digital healthcare company that is redefining the approach to detecting irregularities in patients’ heart rhythms and diagnosing cardiac arrythmias. Along with a positive recommendation from NICE as part of its first evaluation of digital health for wider adoption, we were also announced as a winner of NHSX’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Health and Care Award, enabling us to implement Zio XT – a convenient and comfortable ECG patch monitoring device – across several NHS sites in England.
Digital Solutions for Heart Monitoring
So, what are the main reasons that digital solutions should be highly considered within the NHS framework? Two words: accuracy and speed. Patients and clinicians alike have embraced the use of this relatively new emergent in the health sector in all our sites. The Zio service is trusted to provide more accurate results than the standard Holter, which has been traditionally used for arrythmia detection for decades. While the Zio XT ambulatory cardiac monitor is worn by patients for up to 14 days as opposed to 24-48 hours, this has not compromised patients’ ability to go about day-to-day tasks such as showering and exercise – and has increased the likelihood of correct diagnoses at the outset.
Professor Jay Wright, who is the Lead Clinician for Heart Failure and Cardiac Devices at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, told us in late 2021 that “Prolonged monitoring enables us to pick up more symptomatic episodes, more abnormalities on rhythm, and the pickup rate is much higher.” This has helped to save valuable clinician time, thus increasing patient throughput, and reducing the waiting times. Furthermore, in the vast majority of cases, a diagnosis can be achieved from the initial Zio test, thus avoiding the need to perform follow-up cardiac tests. Many patients currently go through repeated tests with inconclusive results.
This leads nicely onto my next reason why healthcare commissioners should consider the importance of new and emerging medical devices. The cost of new technologies are often considered in isolation instead of reviewing the overall effect on hospital resources. An ambulatory ECG test doesn’t just cost the NHS £135 every time one is performed. There are costs associated with outpatient clinics, cardiac technicians who analysis the data and even transport for those who are unable to get to the hospital for themselves. These costs are exacerbated when you consider that repeat Holter tests in the UK run at around 20-24% of all patients. Dr. Zoltan Borbas, a Consultant Cardiologist at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital recently told iRhythm that Zio made his “workflows so much easier and faster”, and that he has “already saved a lot of unnecessary clinic appointments” meaning he has been “able to make decisions very quickly based on the Zio report”.
In turn, the accuracy of diagnostic results have supported Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital’s efforts to reduce cardiac-related waiting times across the Trust, demonstrating the effectiveness of exploring and investing in medical technologies. Tony Shannon is the hospital’s Non-Invasive Clinical Lead for Cardiac Diagnostics, and he knows better than anyone how important it has been for the NHS to support innovation in cardiology. When meeting last year, Shannon gave us his honest assessment that, “Without the assistance of iRhythm, the patient wait times at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital could have been anywhere up to 20 weeks.”
What has been made absolutely clear throughout the duration of the pandemic is that key healthcare decision-makers have had to go beyond their usual traditional techniques in attempt to solve or lessen the severity of significant healthcare problems. This has shown that alternative approaches are possible. Attention is now being given to building new relationships with up-and-coming digital innovators that have the potential to make a huge dent in the healthcare landscape. This National Heart Month will hopefully add focus to companies aiming to improve heart health and hasten the changes necessary for widespread adoption. After all, we all have the same goal – to reduce the likelihood of serious illness or death in patients from undiagnosed heart conditions.
By Glyn Barnes, Director of Strategic Marketing at iRhythm