Vancouver Coastal Health tests app that could be used for quarantined COVID-19 patients

A mobile text messaging service, successfully used in Kenya to support HIV positive patients, may soon be available to British Columbians where it could be adopted for those self isolating at home to prevent transmission of the coronavirus.

Richard Lester, an infectious diseases physician with Vancouver Coastal Health, is leading a pilot project involving Vancouver General Hospital patients to test if the mobile health platform WelTel can reduce readmission rates by monitoring patients newly discharged from hospital.

WelTel is also the name of a Kenyan non-profit organization that provides digital patient care solutions.

Research conducted by the University of British Columbia and the University of Manitoba in 2010 showed the virtual platform helpedAIDS patients adhere to anti-retroviral therapy and suppress viral load below detection levels.

With COVID-19 quickly becoming a global health concern, Lester is working with his partners in Kenya to make the program accessible to self-quarantined people in Canada and other countries.

"This actually is an ideal opportunity to be able to check in on them by text. We can actually do phone and video as well," the doctor told Stephen Quinn, the host of CBC'sThe Early Edition .

May reduce re-admissions to hospital

British Columbia has one of the highest readmission rates to hospital in the country about 10 per cent within 30 days after discharge. Lester said this costly issue is "an indicator of gaps in the health system," and the WelTel platform can help to streamline the triage process and make health care less expensive.

"The care management team from the hospital ... dedicated a team of nurses and other experts to help to manage ... the 'my discharge plan,' which has normally been in paper form, but patients can lose and forget it. Now, it's all going to be available digitally on their phoneas well as the managersto help them navigate that."

Lester said the virtual care system can cut unnecessary emergency visits by allowing patients to send timely texts to the care management team, whichmay decide to provide medical solutions in an outpatient setting instead.

Canadians expect medical tech innovation

Among the sponsors of WelTel are the B.C. Centre for Disease Control and Grand Challenges Canada, a non-profit organization.

As WelTel's founder, Lester said the innovative text messaging solution was first launched in Kenya but not in Canada because of the prevalent cell phone ownership as well as a "less established legacy and bureaucracy to work through" in Africa.

The physician admits the Canadian health system is often slow to adopt new technology, but he believes things are changing.

"Patients and the public are starting to expect it from their health-care providers and we really need to reform."

The six-month WelTel pilot project aims to enrol about 800 patients at VGH.

To hear the complete interview with Richard Lesteron The Early Edition, tap the audio link below: