České Budějovice Hospital is one of the world leaders in the field of cardiology. Not excessive. A team of cardiologists led by leading arrhythmology and cardiac stimulation doctor Alan Bulava treated more than 500 patients carrying pacemakers or cardiodefibrillators remotely in southern Bohemia.
You may be wondering what it means to care for patients remotely? The number of patients just mentioned had devices implanted with a device called Home Monitoring. Therefore, people with heart defects are monitored online by doctors right from their homes.
“The automated remote monitoring system of heart rhythm and other vital parameters allows us to respond medically immediately to any detected patient condition,” praised Alan Bulava.
The Home Monitoring System, which has been operating in the Czech Republic since 2004 and currently treats almost three thousand patients, operates based on mobile wireless connections. Therefore, the patient has a white box on his bedside table at home, which is connected to a pacemaker or cardiodefibrillator every night and then sends data from this device to a central register every day. From there, doctors can easily read anything about their patients via the Internet.
“Telemedicine, which includes remote patient monitoring or robotic surgery, is clearly a future trend. If the monitored patient experiences an emergency, the system will send a warning message within three minutes. “This system is global, so if someone goes to Australia for half a year, they will still be monitored.” Bulava added.
Every year, Budějská hospital implants 300 to 400 devices that monitor heart function. The operation of Home Monitoring costs around ten thousand crowns per year, and has so far been financed entirely by the BIOTRONIK company that produces it. However, there have been discussions with health insurance companies who would also have to pay for this system.
On Wednesday, August 22, České Budějovice Hospital received the prestigious BIOTRONIK Circle of Honor Award for outstanding results in the field of implantation of cardiac devices that enable remote monitoring of patients with cardiac disorders. Therefore, it is one of six hospitals in the world and three hospitals in Europe that are proud of this award!
“I’m definitely more relaxed with this device. I used to have a job where I was always stressed. Along with treatment, I had to change my lifestyle, calm down and so on. This device monitors me twenty-four hours a day, and if anything happens, it will immediately take action. It’s just a sense of security.” praised Jan Šafář from Temelín, who has had a remotely monitored cardiodefibrillator for four years.
Photo: Bohumir Langmaier
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