Terms of Use

Welcome!

You are about to be enrolled as a referring medical practitioner on the Quro Medical (Pty) Ltd (Quro Medical) Hospital-at-home and/or Remote Monitoring Platform (the Platform). Before you enroll, it is important for you to know and understand our Terms of Use (the Terms). Below are the terms, including information covering all the important aspects of the Platform.

Please ask us if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information.

Thank you for reading these Terms.

Information

About the Platform

The Quro Medical Platform will coordinate the monitoring of various physiological parameters that we will collect from your patient(s) using various wearable devices. The decision about which wearable device(s) are appropriate for use in an individual patient’s case will ultimately be made by you.

The Platform makes use of the following wearable devices:

The VitalPatch®, a small, smart device that will be attached to your patient’s chest and will collect and send vital sign information about your patient’s physiological parameters continuously to a cell phone which we will loan to your patient. The smartphone will be connected to the VitalPatch® and the monitoring process will begin. The VitalPatch® will automatically collect the following information: heart rate, respiration, electrocardiogram (ECG), heart rate variability, core or skin temperature (depending on the VitalPatch® version selected)l, body posture, and footsteps.
The VitalPatch® is disposable, with a battery life of 5 (five) days. In light of this, the VitalPatch® must be changed every 5 (five) days if your patient is enrolled on the Platform for longer than 5 (five)days. The position of the device may need to be changed to avoid irritation. We will discuss this with your patient.
We may also provide you with additional monitoring devices including Bluetooth-enabled Oximeter to monitor your blood oxygen levels and/or blood pressure monitor.

What is the aim of the monitoring Platform?

The aim of the Platform is to provide you with information which will give you insight into your patient’s clinical status and enable you to identify early clinical deterioration and potentially assist to facilitate early intervention in certain cases. Please note that although the Platform may aid your decisions about diagnosis and treatment, it is not in and of itself intended to be a diagnostic or curative tool.

Clinical Services

The clinical services that are provided to your patient will be rendered by DRS MHLOMI V AND MODISE G (trading as QM Partners) an incorporated medical practice employing Healthcare Professionals who provide clinical services and other healthcare- related services to healthcare patients. Quro Medical will be responsible for your patient’s overall care coordination during the period of your patient’s enrollment on the Platform.

QM Partners Clinical Activities

Quro Medical receives a referral from you, detailing your patient’s relevant clinical information, prescription and care plan for your patient’s admission to the Platform. This information serves as the basis for your patient’s continued management while in our care. Various physiological parameters are transmitted to QM Partners via the wearable devices that are provided to your patient, and they are visualised remotely in real-time, 24-hours a day by QM Partners health professionals. In conjunction with the remote monitoring, the QM Partners clinical team will also conduct daily virtual visits for the 5-day admission period. This may also be accompanied by home visits (in the instance of HAH admissions), usually for the first three days of a five-day Quro Medical HAH admission. The objectives of these home visits are to conduct an in-person clinical examination (including assessing chest biosensor location), perform procedures/investigations and administer medication as necessary. QM Partners will also undertake to explain the need of the medications your patient is taking and their possible side effects and warn your patient of danger signs to be aware of. Throughout your patient’s admission to Quro Medical HAH you are required to continue to provide clinical oversight and advise on your patient’s further management. In the event of clinical deterioration, you will be notified and should emergency medical services (EMS) be deemed necessary, EMS will be dispatched.

Benefits of HAH

Quro Medical HAH provides hospital-level care in the comfort of your patient’s home. This includes conducting clinical examinations, facilitating investigations and administering medication in your patient’s home. It enables continuity of care by allowing you to continue to provide clinical oversight during your patient’s Quro Medical HAH admission. The service ensures continuous 24-hour vital signs monitoring, facilitating early detection of clinical deterioration and escalation of care where appropriate.Traditional hospitalisation is associated with the risk of hospital-acquired infections, development of new functional impairments and delirium. Home hospitalisation mitigates against these risks.

Limitations of HAH

Due to the nature of home hospitalisation, you and the Quro Medical clinical team may not be in close proximity to your patient’s home. However, due to the continuous nature of the monitoring we are readily able to identify a trend of clinical deterioration and therefore activate rapid response protocols timeously. Further to this, the Quro Medical clinical team is available 24/7 at our command centre on (010) 141 7710 for any clinical or general queries. As your patient’s vital signs are visualised remotely and continuously, 24-hours a day, your patient may be contacted intermittently, at any time of the day, should there be difficulty in obtaining their clinical data. Please ensure that your patient provides at least two reliable contact numbers (their own and an alternative, ideally someone with whom they live). Additionally, we require your patient and/ or your patient’s alternative contacts to be responsive when we contact them. Quro Medical and QM Partners cannot accept liability for any negative consequence that may arise from any failure to comply with these instructions.

What Quro Medical will do for you?

During the period that your patient is enrolled on the Platform, we will (after obtaining the patient’s consent) give you access and enable you to visualize the data that we are collecting in real–time, and you will also be able to view historical data. Our clinical command center is staffed with doctors and clinical associates who will be available to respond to queries regarding the Platform, our service, your patient’s data or assist with coordinating your patient’s clinical management, where possible, for 24hrs a day and 7 days a week. Our Platform also enables you to connect with your patient either telephonically or through video call using the smartphones that we will provide to the patient.

Disclaimer: Quro Medical has used its best endevours to ensure that the disposables, equipment and or wearable devices and other technology that is used for your patient’s monitoring are in good order and fit for purpose. However, it is in the nature of technology that the precise accuracy of data and reliability of connectivity cannot be guaranteed. In light of this, the Platform is NOT suitable for patients who require uninterrupted monitoring.

What do we require from you?

Despite the monitoring and clinical support services that the Platform will make available to you, you will continue to be responsible for the clinical oversight and clinical care of your patient(s). We will facilitate access to and visualization of the data that we collect, we will facilitate telephonic and/or videocall communication with your patients and we will do our best to assist with coordinated care, however, we will not interfere with your decisions regarding your patient’s clinical management. In this regard, we rely on the information that you provide to us when you refer a patient, including information regarding the clinical assessment of the patient at the point of referral. Accordingly, we require you to conduct a physical assessment of your patient to determine their clinical state and suitability prior to referring the patient for monitoring on the Platform. Additionally, we require you to engage with the Platform and your patient(s) on a daily basis and to maintain ongoing clinical oversight during your patient’s enrolment period. Quro Medical will not accept liability for your failure to conduct a physical assessment at the time of referral and you agree to indemnify and hold Quro Medical harmless for any negative consequence.

Quro Medical Clinical Team Supersession

Without detracting from the above, the Quro Medical clinical team will supersede you at any time, to the extent that it is necessary in any aspect related to a patient’s clinical management, should you be unavailable or unwilling to engage with the Plattform and provide ongoing oversight as required in these Terms.

Are there any risks associated with the wearable devices?

The risks that are associated with use of the wearables are expected to be minimal. The VitalPatch® may cause skin irritation which disappears without treatment. Should your patient report any serious adverse reactions, please report this to Quro Medical and request the patient to remove the VitalPatch® immediately.

Will my patient’s personal information and data be kept confidential?

Your patient’s data will be stored in a secure cloud storage platform that is access controlled by Quro Medical. As part of the Platform’s remote monitoring component, Quro Medical’s healthcare professionals will be able to visualize your patient’s data alongside you in real-time. Only you and Quro Medical will have access to your patient’s data and personal information. It is also possible that we will in consultation with you, need to share your patient’s data with emergency services personnel and/or hospitals if that emergency intervention is required and/or transfer to a hospital or another health establishment is required. We will keep your patient’s personal information and data confidential and will take reasonable and appropriate measures to keep it secure, in accordance with the requirements of the Protection of Personal Information Act of 2013 (POPIA)and other applicable legislation. Additionally, your patient’s informed consent will be obtained prior to their enrolment on the Platform.

Instructions for use and handling of wearable devices

All of our wearable devices are clinical grade and approved by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) and/or the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and/or have CE marking. Where appropriate, you and/or your patient(s) will receive detailed instructions about the use and handling of these devices. It is very important that your patient follows these instructions and asks questions if or when they are unsure. Quro Medical will not accept responsibility for any failure to follow the instructions that are given to your patient.

Accuracy and Correctness of Personal Information

I confirm that the information that I have provided is true and correct and I hereby indemnify and hold Quro Medical harmless for any loss or harm resulting from any incomplete, untrue or inaccurate information provided by me.

What if I have any questions or problems?

For further information, or if you are unhappy with any aspect of the Platform, please contact:

Dr Geoffrey Modise, Quro Medical, 24 Peter Place, Lyme Park, Johannesburg, 2196

Contact No.: +27 72 086 7080

I confirm that I have read and understood the Terms above and have no objection(s) to any of the contents. Additionally, I agree to give my consent where specifically requested.