Patients who require kidney dialysis are used to going to medical centers three days a week, then sitting three to five hours a day, hooked up to a filter that cleans their blood of wastes – something a healthy kidney normally does.

But now it’s possible to stay in touch with your doctor and be carefully monitored continuously from your home, away from medical facilities, through telemonitoring.

A pilot program that remotely monitors patients with kidney disease, the Calydial solution has won the Innovation Prize in the telemedicine category at Health IT, France’s information technology trade show for hospitals and other medical organizations.

The solution, part of a partnership between TELUS Health Solutions and Orange, is used in collaboration with France’s Grenoble University Hospital, Calydial dialysis centers and the GDUC health center.

Telemonitoring allows people with chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart failure to remain active safely while away from the hospital, through constant monitoring of their conditions that are transmitted continuously to clinicians. Doctors like this, too. It helps provide regular care to people in remote areas, saves time for patients and providers, and increases efficiency.

In this particular pilot, patients living with chronic kidney disease were chosen by officials from Calydial and AGDUC to use the TELUS and Orange remote patient monitoring (RPM) solution at home. Patients were given a tablet computer, connectivity and software to monitor their vital signs, manage their medication and treatment protocols and provide feedback to their care team.

The Calydial solution uses TELUS RPM, which allows patients with conditions that require daily monitoring to coordinate with their healthcare providers from home.

As the technical lead, Orange worked with Calydial, AGDUC and the Grenoble University Hospital “to define, deploy and test the solution. Patients and caregivers are able to access the application through secure Orange wireline and wireless networks,” according to a press release.

“TELUS is a Canadian leader in telehealth and telemedicine with more than 10,000 patients using our remote patient monitoring technology to manage their chronic condition from the safety and comfort of their own home,” said Kasra Moozar, vice president of TELUS Health Solutions. “With Orange, we have the opportunity to extend our reach into international markets, bringing our award-winning and proven solutions to further healthcare improvement objectives by turning information into better health outcomes for citizens.”

Edited by Braden Becker

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