The initiative aims to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and support patients at home.

A new research initiative will lead to the launch of the world’s first ‘virtual hospital’.

Already in the pilot stage, the initiative expects to support hundreds of patients across the diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure and atrial fibrillation virtual care pathways in the Galway region.

Geographical reach will initially be across Galway, expanding to rural areas in late 2024 to early 2025. It is expected to extend to thousands of patients over time.

The venture involves networking and security giant Cisco, along with the University of Galway and Cúram Research Centre for Medical Devices. It forms part of the Cisco Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) programme and aspires to conform to the parameters of Sláintecare to reduce avoidable hospital admission and support patients at home.

The new project aims to provide a framework that could contribute to lightening the workload of healthcare professionals. This could increase staff retention, while also minimising operational costs and optimising the use of healthcare resources.

According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK, an early value assessment study on virtual ward platform technologies uncovered an estimated £872 (€1,020) saving per person compared with inpatient care and by £115 (€135) per person compared to care at home without a virtual ward.

To date, in the initial setup stage of the virtual hospital project in Ireland, around 350 ‘bed days’ have been saved by patients who have been supported at home via a COPD virtual care pathway as part of this project work.

Objectives of the virtual hospital

The initiative aims to increase access to services, convenience and improve outcomes for patients. It will also seek to provide patients with the ability to play a role in their own recovery.

Specifically, the virtual platforms are designed to: allow patients to monitor their progress; to provide patients with direct access to educational materials; and to provide patients with the ability to participate in the decision-making process with their healthcare providers.

According to Prof Derek O’Keeffe, the project’s principal investigator and professor of medical device technology at the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at University of Galway, the virtual hospital project “offers an innovative virtual solution to a real global healthcare problem”.

“It will explore new ways of providing care to our patients using next-generation technology and new clinical pathways to improve health and economic outcomes,” he added.

Commenting on the significance of the initiative, Prof Abhay Pandit, Cúram director, said that the project “is an excellent example of the impact that collaborations between Cúram and industry can have on local communities and society at wide”.

This latest project builds on other pilot studies supported by Cisco in remote parts of Ireland under the CDA programme. This includes the Home Health project in Clare Island, which is home to an aging population of 160 residents whose daily lives are often hampered by extreme weather conditions.

Cisco has been expanding into certain sectors, as it snapped up cybersecurity company Splunk in a deal valued at $28bn last year. The company also launched a €1bn fund this year to invest in AI start-ups globally.

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