A remote patient monitoring project in Tasmania, Australia, is helping people with long-term health conditions stay well at home and avoid unnecessary hospital visits. At the heart of the project is Clinitouch, a digital health platform that connects patients to clinical teams for daily monitoring and early intervention.

Clinitouch, developed by UK-based company Spirit Health, began exporting internationally in 2023 with support from the UK Department for Business and Trade. After being featured in the Digital Health Playbook and receiving hands-on market entry support, the team successfully secured and launched its first Australian project in early 2024, working in partnership with Salveo Healthcare and St Luke’s.

The challenge in Tasmania was clear. The state has one of the highest rates of preventable hospitalisations in Australia, with nearly half linked to chronic conditions such as COPD, diabetes, heart failure and ischaemic heart disease. Tasmania is also the country’s most decentralised state, with just 40% of the population living in the capital city. Delivering face-to-face services at scale was proving increasingly difficult, and the existing model was struggling to keep pace with demand.

To help tackle this, Clinitouch was introduced to enhance the existing care program. The platform allows patients to input daily health readings and symptoms through a secure, user-friendly app. Clinical teams can review this information in real time, identify early signs of deterioration and intervene more quickly.

Rather than assigning home visits on a rota basis, nurses can now prioritise based on clinical need, making sure each patient receives the right care at the right time. This shift has increased clinical capacity and enabled services to support more people without compromising on quality of care.

Since its launch in February 2024, over 150 patients are now being regularly monitored using Clinitouch, with a second phase of the project set to begin this summer. Already, the technology has helped prevent unnecessary hospital visits. In one example, a patient with COPD began showing worsening symptoms and, thanks to Clinitouch, a nurse was alerted, checked in with the patient and confirmed a GP appointment was already booked. Additional support was arranged to prevent deterioration.

Patient feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Gerard, one of the participants, said:

Clinicians have also welcomed the change, noting how the system enables earlier interventions and more proactive care.

Following the success of the initial pilot, Clinitouch is now a core part of Salveo Healthcare’s Advanced Preventative Care program, with hundreds more patients expected to join before the end of 2025. The project also aligns closely with Australia’s Support at Home program, which reflects a growing need to deliver more care in people’s homes through digital solutions like Clinitouch.

With momentum building, Clinitouch is continuing to explore opportunities to expand its impact across Australia and other international markets—proving that UK-developed innovation can help deliver better healthcare, closer to home.