Modality is a community cardiology service in the West Midlands that runs in collaboration with the local NHS Trust. It became the first fully integrated community cardiology service to open in 2017 when Dr Singh started it from scratch after seeing how the local population struggled to access specialist cardiology services.
In the first month they saw 17 patients, now the service sees over 1000, performing 600-700 diagnostic tests a month. They’re only continuing to grow.
Patient referrals are all triaged by a GP with a special interest in cardiology who selects the appropriate investigations such as 12-lead ECG echocardiogram or Holter monitoring. All investigations are performed before a clinic appointment to ensure their patients get the maximum impact from their time within the clinic, leaving behind the days of multiple appointments. Once the patient is seen, a plan is formulated and passed on to the patient’s regular GP for ongoing management.
ECG On-Demand has worked with Modality since 2022, providing Holter monitor rental and analysis services to the practice to help them achieve community cardiology care within the constraints of the NHS tariff system. Through the point of care model, Modality are able to fit the Holter monitor then upload the results to be analysed and triaged using our traffic light system to aid in their workflow of reviewing patient results.
Modality and their patients also find the Bittium Faros monitors used by ECG On-Demand very user friendly, which in conjunction with the analysis service has allowed for better patient experiences with Holter monitoring.
In fact, Dr Singh has enjoyed the service so much that he partnered with ECG On-Demand for his research into atrial fibrillation (AF). His study focused on using an algorithm that helps to identify patients at a high risk of AF. Participants from the practice cohort in West Birmingham and Walsall, without a prior diagnosis of AF, were selected based on whether their CHA2DS2-VASc score was 6 or over. The identified patients underwent a 12-lead ECG and a 7 day Holter monitor. ECG On-Demand performs the 7-day Holter analysis to look for undiagnosed AF.
If AF is confirmed, the patient can be started on medication. So far, Dr Singh reports that AF has been detected in 1 in 5 patients screened, which in turn will reduce their stroke risk and health and social care expenditure.
What is next for Modality? Dr Singh hopes to perform further, larger studies to validate the proposed algorithm. We look forward to seeing him take the GP cardiology sector by storm!
Are you looking for ways to increase your AF screening potential within the community? Contact one of our team members to find out more!
