The National University Hospital uses smartwatches for vital signs monitoring, with data fed into the hospital’s electronic medical records system
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Zhaki Abdullah
- NUH will expand smartwatch use to monitor inpatient vital signs, feeding data into electronic records to reduce nurse check time from two minutes to 40 seconds.
- Trials showed smartwatches detected abnormal vital signs up to two hours earlier and helped patients rest better by avoiding frequent waking.
- The hospital plans to roll out devices for surgical patients and aims to improve patient safety while easing nurses’ workload and reducing cross-infection risks.
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SINGAPORE – The National University Hospital (NUH) aims to broaden its use of wearable technology for vital signs monitoring, with up to 10 per cent of inpatient vital signs monitoring expected to be supported by smartwatches over the coming year
Data from the smartwatches will be fed into the hospital’s electronic medical records system, allowing automatic documentation – a move expected to cut the time required for each check from two minutes to about 40 seconds per patient
The move is expected to improve the recovery experience for ward patients while easing the workload of nurses, NUH said, adding that this is in line with the hospital’s efforts to use technology to enhance patient safety and optimise care delivery
Immediately following a procedure, patients’ vital signs – including blood pressure, pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation – are monitored as frequently as every hour to assess their condition, said Lim Tian Zhi, an associate consultant at NUH’s surgery department
“These vital signs help us assess the patient to see whether they are recovering on the normal track or showing early signs of deterioration,” he said
Such regular monitoring – which requires nurses to wake sleeping patients – can disrupt their recovery, Lim noted, adding that it is also time-consuming
Using smartwatches allows patients’ vital signs to be continuously monitored and sent to devices tracked by nurses, so their condition can be observed without disrupting their rest, he said
“It also frees nurses from routine, repeated vital signs monitoring, allowing them to have more time for physical, face-to-face care for complex nursing needs.”
NUH conducted a month-long trial in June, during which 30 patients woreHealth Sciences Authority-approved smartwatches with vital signs monitoring capabilities
The devices – which incorporate miniature airbags similar to those in conventional blood pressure monitors – continuously monitored blood pressure, pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation
During the trial, nurses continued carrying out routine vital signs checks, recording the smartwatch readings at hourly or four-hourly intervals
When the devices detected abnormal readings, nurses verified the measurements using standard bedside equipment
The trial found that the smartwatches detected 18 abnormal vital sign changes and could identify them up to two hours earlier than routine manual observations
The Straits Times understands that the device used was a Huawei smartwatch, which is recognised as a medical device by regulators in Europe and China
NUH nurse manager Lim Pooi See noted that the use of wearables could also help reduce the risk of cross-infection associated withshared monitoring devices
The hospital aims to roll out the devices for surgical patients across its general ward, with the goal of eventually expanding their use to other patient groups, she said
Among the patients who took part in the trial was Ho Mei Guat, who was warded at NUH following an operation to remove a tumour from her colon in June
The 50-year-old, who works for a software company, said the experience was much more restful compared with a previous hospital stay a decade ago, when she fractured her ankle
“I wasn’t being woken up every hour by the nurses,” she said, adding that using a smartwatch was also less intimidating than being hooked up to multiple monitoring devices
Asim Shabbir, head of NUH’s department of surgery, said: “The encouraging results have given us confidence to explore wider implementation across suitable patient groups
“As we expand the programme, patient safety will remain our top priority. We will continue to evaluate the clinical context and suitability of the technology in different care settings (to identify) where it can deliver the greatest benefits.”
National University Hospital
Wearable gadgets
Medical technology sector
Singapore health
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