Lille University Hospital is testing an application to remotely monitor lung cancer patients

Being able to remotely monitor patients with lung cancer is the objective of this experiment set up at Lille University Hospital and Calais Hospital. This innovation was developed by the Cureety company. It allows patients to assess their state of health even when they are at home and healthcare teams can monitor them remotely. This allows them to identify risky situations more quickly and therefore to prioritize hospital treatment for patients who require it.

In total, 900 patients from the Lille and Calais living areas volunteered. The first patients began the experiment at the beginning of October. This system already exists in other hospitals, but this is the first time that it has been tested in Hauts-de-France.

An application to better identify symptoms and side effects

Every week, patients answer a short questionnaire on their mobile phone, computer or tablet. Nurses then have access to patient responses on an application. “We connect twice a day, in the morning and in the evening”explains Anne-Sophie, nurse. Each symptom is sorted by an algorithm based on its severitywhich allows nurses to quickly identify if there is a problem. “It’s a color system: if it’s green, it’s fine, nothing serious. When it turns orange, we send advice via the app, or we can schedule an appointment. If it’s red, the doctor is notified and the patient is immediately called”explains the nurse.

The objective is simple: to be able to identify anomalies more quickly. Professor Arnaud Scherpereel is at the origin of this experiment in the Lille hospital. “What we hope is that we can detect certain toxicities of certain drugs, or certain progressions of cancer, earlier and that we can bring patients in more quickly for a consultation, or if necessary for hospitalization.“.

Patients have appointments every 3 weeks. This system therefore allows them to keep in contact with the medical teamalthough of course they can always call in case of problems or doubts. “I think it reassures the patient and the caregiver to have an additional link. Outside of the fixed meeting points, the patient can express himself, he will be a speaker. It’s really something that should help, facilitate everyone’s task and reassurance”concludes the professor.

Ultimately, the goal is that every patient treated for cancer can have access to this application.