Irish start-up launches portal to allow GPs to treat patients remotely – Med-Tech Innovation | Latest news for the medical device industry

An Irish start-up supported by EIT Health has launched an online portal that allows GPs and healthcare providers to treat people remotely, reducing their risk from COVID-19.

Patient communication portal Wellola is collaborating with the HSE to support GPs with their consultations to garnering the interest of 600-plus healthcare providers. 

A physiotherapist and a doctor by trade, Wellola’s co-founders, Sonia Neary and Dr Greg Martin, have spent the last few years morphing their platform intended for physiotherapists into a patient portal for multiple healthcare settings – and it’s now being put to use in the fight against COVID-19. Their goal is to keep healthcare providers safe by ensuring they can deliver remote care using a digitalised system.   

The platform offers functions including, online booking, video consultations, document sharing and the opportunity for patients to complete forms and assessments.  

Sonia Neary said: “Our tool is designed for your own GP or healthcare provider to connect with you, because that relationship is so important.”

Wellola has collaborated with Health Innovation Hub and the Irish Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists to make its portal available to mental healthcare providers in Ireland too. 

Neary added: “GPs were really struggling with how to respond in light of COVID-19, how to best protect themselves and their patients. Phones were ringing off the hook with enquiries. Many GPs were in quarantine themselves and were trying to find a way to contribute to sharing the clinical workload. They had no secure way to attend to their patients’ remotely.” 

Wellola’s collaboration with the HSE allows patients to be triaged before they attend a GP practice or hospital. The portal also offers remote care provisions for patients who are self-isolating, as well as supporting GPs who may need flexible working options.   

According to Neary, several primary care centres, mental health centres and hospitals are using Wellola to care for the different needs of patients.

She adds: “Initially the platform was for GPs who were on the front line, but we started receiving inquiries from outpatient departments who wanted to maintain their care pathways, albeit remotely. Where possible, they’re trying to find other ways to care for their patient caseload rather than onsite.

“And even allied health care providers, mental health care providers in particular, still need a way to connect and know that the environment in which they’re engaging in is still professional and secure.”

In mid-April, Wellola partnered with a UK-based social prescribing platform, Elemental, to enable link workers and their communities to connect through video consultations. 

The team is also working with sole-trading mental health care providers in the UK-Ireland region, as well as exploring collaborations in Portugal.