Communications of the ACM
Smartphones Provide Video Monitoring of Tb Patients
One component of the VDOT system aids patient treatment by adding motivators or reminders to take pills.
Credit: Government Technology
San Diego County health officials are using smartphones to improve treatment monitoring for tuberculosis (TB) patients, as part of a collaboration with the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and Verizon.
The Video Directly Observed Therapy (VDOT) program has been in place for several years, enabling patients to record themselves taking their daily prescriptions and sending the videos to the county for review. Smartphones were introduced to the program in 2010, enabling patients to take medication and record video at their own convenience. Using smartphone video instead of real-time phone conversations and pictures or in-home visits offers flexibility and other advantages to both staff and patients, says San Diego County's Kathy Moser.
The VDOT system was created by UCSD professor Richard Garfein and developers from the university's Calit2 research and development branch. When patients out of communication range record a video, the phone stores the video until a signal is detected. When connectivity is established, the video transmits and is deleted from the patient's phone.
Health workers can stream patient videos off a secure server, but cannot download videos to their computer. Although observation is not required for TB patients, it is recommended due to poor compliance with the treatment, which lasts a year and requires six to 12 pills daily.
From Government Technology
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2013 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found