Id: 4342993 Is a Virtual Atrial Fibrillation Pathway Using a Smartphone Application Effective? a Single Centre Experience
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Background: Healthcare systems are struggling with the triple challenge of increasing demand for services, changing demography and a burnt-out workforce.For atrial fibrillation (AF) it is estimated that care for this will make up more than 4% of the National Health Service (NHS) budget with 60% of this spent on acute care.Against this background new models of acute AF care are needed.Objective: To determine whether an acute AF service using a smartphone app is clinically safe and cost effective.Methods: Briefly patients who were felt to need acute AF care could be onboarded onto a virtual ward service.This comprised the use of a PPG based smartphone app (Fibricheck), a centralized monitoring service staffed by general nursing staff and a local specialist team providing ongoing support and leading the care.Initially the service accepted referrals as step down referrals from the inpatient areas but subsequently also accepted referrals directly from the emergency department.Treatment options included optimization of medical therapy, cardioversions and ablation therapy.Results: 292 patients were cared for by the virtual ward service from April 2024 to March 2025.The oldest patient onboarded onto the service was over 90 years.The average length of stay as an inpatient prior to the virtual ward pathway was 4.8 days versus 6.7 days for the comparator group.The all-cause readmission rate was reduced from 16% to 11%. Figure 1 shows a logistic regression model of observed and predicted AF admissions.57% of patients rated their care experience as very good and 100% of staff felt that they were able to recommend the virtual ward to their friends and family.From a financial perspective the net cost saving was calculated at over £200k for the year.Conclusion: Our experience suggest that an acute virtual AF service is both clinically safe and cost effective.These models of care should be further developed to provide care that is fit for the future.
Source: Heart Rhythm O2
Authors: Sadia Khan, Jasjit Syan, Keenan Saleh, Grant McQueen, Sarah Pearse, Jodian Barrett, James Bird, Michael Wright
Language: English
Subfield: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,150
OpenAlex ID: W4413963604