Leonardo Project
Leonardo Project main objective is to improve the quality and efficiency of health care, combining patients’ need of health and life quality with sustainable costs; from this, maximum guarantee of care and progressive improvement of assistance process efficiency in chronic pathologies is deduced. Leonardo Project is therefore a regional cooperation plan based on prevention initiatives aimed at the population. Reducing heart attack consequences, thus saving patients’ lives, is only possible thanks to quick-time interventions both for pathology investigations and for therapy’s practice. Without timely intervention, mortality rate is equal to 50%, but advanced technological systems and innovative softwares can meet the urgency of intervention thanks to the so-called “telemedicine”, or more precisely: “the transfer of data, monitored by telematics diagnostic tools, to a specialist presidium which provides a diagnosis and indicates appropriate therapies in real time “. Regarding heart diseases, from October 11th 2004 a service of “telecardiology” on the ambulances of the emergency telephone number (118) began in Apulia, allowing the immediate recording of electrocardiogram on the same site where the patient is rescued for a suspect cardiac pain and then transmitted within 60 seconds, to a centre monitored by cardiologists, active for 24 hours a day, for 365 days a year, who in a few minutes, formulate a diagnosis. Patients in serious conditions are directly transferred to the nearest Cardiological Intensive Unit Care (UTIC), by-passing the emergency-room step, speeding up first interventions and, at the same time, reducing useless hospitalizations. Realized thanks to a fruitful collaboration between a public and a private institution, namely the Apulia Regional Administration and Pfizer (private pharmaceutical Company), according to a Regional Health Plan 2002-2004, the service of Telecardiology is aimed at improving quality and effectiveness of health care to citizens, while respecting the constraints of economic sustainability. Leonardo Project, was created as an “innovative model” aimed at responding to local authorities’ new needs in terms of investment and optimisation of resources for a more effective and efficient health management in the territory. The pillars on which this partnership project between Apulia Region and Pfizer is based are: care adequacy, cardiovascular risk prevention, management of chronic pathologies with greater socio-economic impact and effectiveness of the territorial services organization. The agreement considers a collaboration between Pfizer and A.Re.S. (Apulia Regional Health Authority) for the development of diagnostic-therapeutic pathways related to chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension, decompensation, in the training and application of technologies and innovative methodologies of disease and care management, with an investment by the pharmaceutical company of more than 2 million Euros. The focal point of this partnership, namely Leonardo Project, is “a cooperation plan in the regional territory to set up prevention programmes, disease management of the main pathologies, training of health professionals, and prevention initiatives aimed at the population”. Specifically, Leonardo Project’s memorandum of understanding expects the implementation and development of the following activities: Regional project of Telecardiology, in collaboration with the 118’s emergency service of the Apulian region, which foresees, starting from October 1st 2004, to equip all 118’s service ambulances of useful equipment to perform EKGs, with subsequent remote reporting; collaboration with the Regional Health Agency of Puglia Region (A.Re.S.), for the identification of diagnostic-therapeutic pathways for chronic pathologies, considering the experience in the integrated assistance models’ field that Pfizer has acquired, with other public institutions, in both United States and United Kingdom; collaboration with the Regional Health Agency of Apulia Region for the creation and organization of a regional team consisting of qualified personnel, assets supporting the activities and operational programmes whose tasks will be defined and subject to the direction of A.Re.S. The Team’s first commitment, already working since several months, has been the formulation of the diagnostic-therapeutic guidelines for depression in adults and children, of forthcoming application throughout the region; application of methodologies and innovative technologies of disease and care management for the management, monitoring and measurement of efficacy and efficiency of the care processes for pathologies with high social and economic impact (diabetes, decompensation hypertension, etc.). Finally, telecardiology’s basic and fundamental task is to considerably reduce heart attack mortality by shortening the pre-hospitalization phase.