Telia launches mobile service for remote monitoring of patient health

This summer hospitals and health care units in Sweden will have access to a new and unique service. Using GPRS in the mobile network, hospital and health care staff can remotely monitor patients with sicknesses or diseases that do not require hospital treatment or other types of medical care. The service, called BodyKom, has been developed by TeliaSonera Sweden in association with HP (Hewlett Packard) and Kiwok, a Swedish software company.

BodyKom functions by means of a communications device that is connected wirelessly to a number of sensors on a patient’s body. The communications device communicates with health care personnel over TeliaSonera Sweden’s nation-wide mobile network and constantly monitors the patient’s health status remotely. If the sensors detect any changes in the patient’s health, or if the patient notices changes to his or her body functions, the system can automatically dispatch an alarm to an on-call doctor or to members of the patient’s family. “It can be difficult for patients to know exactly how their body is functioning if they have an irregular heartbeat, for example. Using this service, a patient can theoretically be at home or at work and still feel secure. If an emergency situation should develop, health care personnel can be immediately notified and take the necessary measures,” says Professor Christer Sylvén at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. TeliaSonera Sweden is responsible for selling BodyKom to hospitals and will also manage the data traffic in the service. BodyKom is currently being used to monitor the pulse of patients, but in the future the service will also be offered to patients with diabetes, asthma and other illnesses that might require emergency help. “The service will mean better quality of life for patients, who will no longer have to be hospitalized but will still have access to health check-ups and emergency assistance if they need it. If a larger number of patients can be discharged earlier from hospitals, BodyKom™ will naturally lead to savings in the health care sector,” says Erik Heilborn, head of the Business Segment at TeliaSonera Sweden.