In 2015, BUP (child and youth psychiatry) within the Gävleborg Region started a project in the form of increased self-care through medication follow-up at home. There, patients with ADHD were allowed to borrow blood pressure monitors to manage the registration of measured values at home. The patient had to write down on a piece of paper the values they received via the blood pressure monitor, but since text messages or emails may not be used in communication with patients, the method was perceived as out of date and our young patients questioned the method.
When a 16-year-old patient at a meeting expressed that there should be an app to register data in, an idea was born. The region contacted Medilevel to develop a system that could meet the region's needs and that meets the healthcare system's strict requirements for safety and confidentiality.
In connection with titration of ADHD medication, the patient/family sees a nurse 3–6 times and the doctor 1-2 times/year. For many families, it is stressful to follow up the medication. A contributing reason is that the children and young people in connection with the titration of the medicine miss important time in school and the parents lose working time to have time to go to these meetings at BUP. In many cases, the families also have a long way to go to the BUP clinic, for a visit of 15-30 minutes you may need to take half a day off and sometimes even a whole day from school and work.
In 2016, Medilevel began developing a system called HIPR [hypers]. A great deal of work was put into identifying how the system would be built to meet all legal requirements in the area.
In 2018, the Gävleborg Region conducted a pilot study with patients from BUP and adult psychiatry, a total of 70 patients participated in the study.
By allowing patients and families to use HIPR, it was found that HIPR:
• provides more measurements
• shows clear graphs
• provides more adequate measurements with increased safety
• frees up time at the clinics
• reduces stress in families
• make families more involved in the medication
• replaces hospital visits for interventions that can take place as self-care
• saving money
Since 2019, HIPR has been used with good results in the Gävleborg Region. The region has seen that they can now measure the effect of the medicine more clearly. Patients and parents are more involved in the administration of the medicine and we notice a more compliant treatment where the side effects of the medicine are reduced. HIPR has meant that patients who use it increase attendance at school and parents do not have to take time off from work. Many and long journeys are avoided, which also leads to positive environmental effects. With fewer visits to the nurse when titrating medication, an already strained care queue is relieved.