We are pleased to share the following significant milestones achieved over the last quarter:
- PainChek has reached 100,000 global licences across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Canada, in the aged care, home care, and hospital sectors.
- PainChek has now successfully completed the US FDA de Novo clinical validation study, with positive results. The results will be submitted to the FDA in November, on track for rapid expansion in the US following clearance.
- Following the launch of the PainChek Infant Early Access Program earlier this year, PainChek Infant has successfully recruited its first members, with continued growth, and is now available for download directly via the App Store.
Global aged care snapshot
- 100,000 contracted PainChek® licences across almost 1,840 aged care facilities in three continents, representing a 30% increase on the year prior
- 7,440,000 cumulative PainChek® clinical assessments conducted as of 30 September 2024, an increase of 116% over the previous year, reflecting continued strong growth in clinical use and implementation progress
Ongoing progress across ANZ
In Australia and New Zealand, PainChek® licences cover over 61,000 beds across ~750 aged care facilities, representing approximately 30% of the aged care sector as well as new home care and hospital clients.
In New Zealand, PainChek® now integrates with Healthcare Compliance Solutions Ltd (HCSL), a leading nurse and auditor-designed aged care facility management software. Riverleigh Care, which provides a wide range of residential care services in Lower Hutt, is the first to adopt the integration.
The partnership between PainChek and HCSL will bring pain assessment and care planning information into one seamless experience for aged care providers in New Zealand and extend on PainChek’s current integration ecosystem, which includes more than 30 partnerships and covers more than 1,500,000 beds worldwide.
Continued strong growth in the UK, government-funded projects underway
PainChek continues to grow significantly in the UK with over 39,000 licensed beds across more than 1,000 care facilities, representing 8% of the UK aged care sector and a 103% increase on the year prior.
Some of PainChek’s recently implemented larger UK clients include:
- Oakland Care – 1,000 beds across 10 homes following a successful pilot in one of its services, where over 20,000 pain assessments were conducted over 6 months. A significant reduction in pain was identified during this time period, and several case studies captured showed how PainChek® data influenced care and treatment plans.
- Berkley Care – 800 beds over 12 luxury care homes.
Progress continues with government funding in the UK; The University of Hertfordshire and Health Innovation East is independently evaluating the benefits of using PainChek® across Care Homes in Bedford Luton and Milton Keynes ICB, as part of the government-sponsored Adult Social Care Technology Fund (ASCTF).
The first report from care homes using PainChek® in Central Bedfordshire Council has shown promising results, with a significant reduction in the quantity and cost of pain medication being prescribed to residents living in care homes following the implementation of PainChek®.
Further reports are to be written throughout the 15-month project, where falls, hospital admissions, workforce capacity and dependency will also be explored. If PainChek proves successful during the project across BLMK ICB, the DHSC could support a national rollout of PainChek across England.
In addition, South West London ICB has funded 820 PainChek® licences across 20 care homes. Several case studies have shown how care homes have engaged with allied healthcare professionals to support decision-making, which has led to the discontinuation of unnecessary long-term pain medications.
PainChek® training approaches have been also streamlined to deliver implementation at a faster pace to PainChek’s larger clients, with rollouts at Coverage Care Services (624 beds), Abbey Healthcare (666 beds) and TLC Care (429 beds).
Positive results from US clinical validation study
PainChek’s FDA de Novo clinical validation study has now been completed and the results will be submitted to the FDA in November 2024 for US clearance. Preliminary study results include positive performance in a paired study with the Abbey Pain Scale, consistent with other previous studies of evaluating the psychometric properties of observational pain assessment tools. These results pave the way for PainChek’s FDA De Novo submission and expansion in the US, where 1,700,000 people reside in long-term care facilities.
“Should PainChek successfully obtain FDA clearance, PainChek® would be the first of its kind FDA-cleared pain assessment tool in the USA specifically designed for aged care residents with moderate to severe dementia who are unable to self-report their pain,” said Philip Daffas, PainChek CEO.
PainChek Infant launches on App Store
Following the launch of the PainChek Infant Early Access Program earlier this year, early adopters have provided valuable feedback on their experience using the app, which includes a range of practical features for parents:
- 3-second pain assessment analysis
- Ongoing pain monitoring
- Treatment and medication tracking
- Self-guided in-app training
- Ease of use in the home
PainChek also partnered with industry experts Mamamia and Kiindred to engage first-time parents in Australia and has successfully recruited its first 50 users, creating awareness amongst parents and medical professionals.
With the app now available to download directly through the Apple App Store, it’s expected users of PainChek Infant will continue to grow steadily in the coming months.
Other business updates
Clinical research
As previously reported, two Hollywood Private Hospital (WA) based research projects are underway:
- The manuscript covering the effectiveness of the PainChek training has now been revised and resubmitted to the Journal of Medical and Internet Research. This is a study into improving pain assessment for hospitalised older adults following orthopaedic surgery using a technology-driven pain assessment.
- A project has been established and ethical approval obtained for an effectiveness-implementation pilot study to improve pain assessment for hospitalised older adults with cognitive impairment using a technology-driven pain assessment tool. This will commence in January 2025.
Additional clinical studies being progressed include:
- Funding has been awarded by The School of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University to support the completion of Phase 1 of the study into the feasibility of using PainChek in the hospital emergency department (ED). The study is conducted at Sir Charles Gairdner and Fiona Stanley Hospitals in Western Australia. In addition to governance and ethics, training and evaluation, it can contribute to the analysis of the audit of pain assessment practice for patients with cognitive impairment in ED. Phase 2 of the implementation will commence in 2025 with additional grant funding being sought.
- Grant funding has been obtained for the implementation study of PainChek within a Geriatric/Rehabilitation Ward at Singapore General Hospital, Singapore. Application for ethics approval is now underway.
- Videos have been processed and are ready for assessment in the evaluation of the validity of PainChek Infant for the assessment of pain in neonates undergoing frenectomy. Ethics approval for the project has been received.
PainChek is currently working with a research team at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSBI) Bielefeld, Germany.
- The collaborative work includes the validation of the German version of the PainChek instrument in an aged care setting. PainChek will be validated against the German version of the Pain in Advanced Dementia scale (PAINAD-G) also know as Beurteilung von Schmerz bei Demenz (BESD), which is a widely used pain assessment tool used in people living with advanced dementia in Germany.
PainChek continues with the “Pain Profiling” research and the decoding manuscript is in the final process of internal review prior to submission following a study of some 2.2 million pain assessments. This initiative will expand current PainChek indications for use and has revealed that clear relationships exist between pain intensity and the frequency of occurrence of facial and on-facial pain indicators.
Presentations
- Prof Jeff Hughes delivered a presentation entitled: ‘PainChek – Giving a voice to those who cannot tell you they’re in pain’ as an invited speaker at the 9th World Rett Syndrome Congress, Gold Coast, Queensland, October 2024
- A/Prof Rosemary Saunders presented a poster entitled: ‘Assessing pain using an automated facial recognition and analysis app to improve pain assessment in hospitalized older patients’ at the Australian College of Nursing National Forum, Cairns, Queensland, in August 2024
- Prof Jeff Hughes presented two posters at the Hammondcare International Dementia Conference in Sydney, New South Wales, in September 2024. The posters are entitled: (i) ‘Pain in people living with dementia: A significant contributor to caregiver burden’ and (ii) ‘Assessing pain using a technology- enabled app (PainChek Universal) to improve pain assessment for hospitalised older adults’
Recent PainChek related publications
- Atee M, Whiteman I, Lloyd R, Morris T. Behaviours and psychological symptoms of childhood dementia: two cases of psychosocial interventions. Palliative Care and Social Practice. 2024 Sep;18:26323524241273492.
- Cascella M, Leoni ML, Shariff MN, Varrassi G. Artificial Intelligence-Driven Diagnostic Processes and Comprehensive Multimodal Models in Pain Medicine. Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2024 Sep 16;14(9):983.
- Tagliafico L, Maizza G, Ottaviani S, Muzyka M, Rovere FD, Nencioni A, Monacelli F. Pain in non- communicative older adults beyond dementia: a narrative review. Frontiers in Medicine. 2024 Aug 15;11:1393367.
- Chejor P, Atee M, Cain P, Whiting D, Morris T, Porock D. Pain prevalence, intensity, and association with neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia in immigrant and non-immigrant aged care residents in Australia. Scientific Reports. 2024 Jul 23;14(1):16948.
To learn more about how PainChek® could enable best-practice pain management within your organisation, book a one-on-one session with a member of our team.
