University of Kansas Health System Using mHealth for Stroke, Sepsis Treatment
The University of Kansas Health System will pilot a program in which physicians and nurses will use a mobile app to help guide them through timely diagnosis and treatment of stroke and sepsis.
The Kansas Heart and Stroke Collaborative, a grant-funded program of the University of Kansas Health System, will begin using software from Kansas-based Redivus Health as a pilot program in selected rural hospitals in the state. The Kansas Heart and Stroke Collaborative currently serves 40 hospitals in rural Kansas.
Undoubtedly, time is critical in the management of acute ischemic stroke, the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. Keeping a timeline and determining whether the patient is eligible for administering tPA, the clot-busting drug, are important steps that affect the patient’s ability to survive and recover from a stroke.
“For rural hospitals that see fewer strokes, we expect this tool to provide both education and time-sensitive guidance to follow the stroke treatment steps,” Marilyn Rymer, M.D., neurologist at The University of Kansas Health System, said in a press release. “When every minute counts for the stroke patient, we hope to improve confidence in making critical decisions and increase identification of tPA-eligible patients.”
Meanwhile, sepsis, often referred to as the “silent killer,” kills more Americans than any single cancer. The first challenge with sepsis is identification as the diagnosis can be complicated and the standards difficult to remember. Once identified, sepsis requires a time-sensitive treatment regimen to quell the infection and stabilize the patient. As such, the idea is that with this tool, clinicians will have bedside access to evidence-based protocols with Redivus to aid in diagnosing and caring for sepsis patients.
The Redivus Health tool was designed by physicians and improved through field-testing and the input of medical experts. Officials say it delivers step-by-step standardized protocols for cases of cardiac arrest, stroke and sepsis, with new treatment areas in development
“As doctors, we witnessed and experienced the daily challenges with adhering to evidence-based medicine, and we developed this solution to provide colleagues with a simple, intuitive way to follow standards and reduce error at the point of care,” said Jeff Dunn, D.O., Redivus co-founder and CEO. “As entrepreneurs, we are thrilled to work with a nationally recognized academic health system like The University of Kansas Health System to fine-tune our product and collect valuable feedback from medical professionals using it.”
