Joyce Melia, 83, was hit hard by Covid last year. At one stage, she couldn't breathe, so she went to hospital.
"There were heaps of other people there and because of my age they didn't really want an old person extra in hospital so they sent me home with all this paraphernalia," she told 1News.
That paraphernalia was an FDA approved medical device called a BioSticker - which attaches to a patient's chest.
It measures things like heart rate and skin temperature, monitored from hospital by a registered nurse.
She was one of 250 Covid-positive patients who tried the device last year.
Half of them were recruited from the Whānau Ora Community Clinic.
"For Māori and Pacific, one of the key things is to have the ability to be able to stay at home and get well," clinic director George Ngatai said. "If this device or future devices give us that opportunity that would be more comforting for them to know they can actually do that."
Jonathan Mahau, 28, also tried the tech after he caught Covid.
"One of my specialists called me, said there was an experiment going on. It's reassuring knowing someone's monitoring you while you're at home," he said.
A separate trial using the BioSticker was also held in south Timaru for patients in rural settings.
Now Te Whatu Ora's expanding beyond Covid, using similar tech for patients with cardiac conditions in Counties Manukau.
They're hoping to start using the tech later this month - with an aim of 1500 patients over half a year.
New gadgets have been ordered from the US, that give more detailed readings.
"Actually having a device that might be able to measure heart rate alongside blood oxygen levels as well as blood pressure would be quite advantageous," Penny Magud, general manager for specialist community health services in Counties Manukau said.
GP Dr John Cameron says the biggest benefit will be peace of mind for patients.
"If you've got something which is there, where thee's somebody in the cloud area, medically trained, looking at your data, saying nah you're OK, that's a big reassurance for a start."
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