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Optimising remote patient monitoring devices has effectively reduced hospital admissions, especially for patients with chronic conditions.
FREMONT, CA: The pandemic drove telehealth into the mainstream of healthcare, especially with remote patient monitoring (RPM) gaining huge prominence. The technologies involved reduced the time patients spent in situations where there was a possibility of COVID-19 virus transmission.
Even in the post-pandemic era, RPM keeps patients away from hospitals’ high-cost settings and to a home facility, improving patients' experience while reducing expenses. With these benefits, RPM helps healthcare service providers manage chronic conditions and ease hospitals' burden.
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There was a worsening of chronic conditions after the pandemic began, leading to a health debt—an accumulated change in health behaviours. This chronic condition deterioration resulted from patients' concerns about COVID risks avoiding and delaying care. A huge adult population delayed and avoided medical care during the pandemic, and people with chronic conditions stayed away from the hospital or clinic.
Chronic patients were at greater risk for complications from COVID-19 and had to be safe, which amplified their concerns. At the same time, they need to maintain contact and assistance from providers to stay on track. Moreover, the stress and anxiety due to pandemic uncertainty worsened chronic conditions, indicating they need additional care. Another significant reason for increasing chronic conditions was the physicians' unavailability of the right RPM tools to prevent and help patients who cannot visit clinics in person. This delayed care has long-term consequences, but RPM mitigates this impact.
Tools like oximeters, spirometers, connected thermometers, and stethoscopes to monitor post-discharged patients after COVID-19 are examples of RPM implications. However, there is a need for devices to provide adequate monitoring capabilities to leverage in homes. Diabetics have glucometers, but those with COPD, sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation need devices to sufficiently track them. Currently, a patient's actual condition is only visible to physicians. But with the reduction of in-person visits, patients will also need to monitor their conditions using devices designed for their treatments.
Studies are being carried out to see what RPM can offer patients with chronic diseases. Advancing RPM by understanding currently existing diagnostic devices for each condition, finding which sensors can be integrated into wireless devices and creating clinically relevant continuous solutions. In the beginning stage, medical professionals see huge opportunities to innovate with clinicians and patients embracing new solutions.
RPM eases the burden on the healthcare system, especially curbing the challenges brought by the pandemic. Telemedicine has become a pivot and an excellent tool for dealing with episodic care during the pandemic. It reduced the number of patients frequenting providers, thereby increasing telehealth video usage. With this equipment, RPM significantly reduced hospital readmissions and emergency room visits. This eased the burden on staff and alleviated their exposure risk. With the use of devices like pulse oximeters to monitor patients remotely and promote home-based self-isolation, RPM enables the discharge of COVID patients faster.
The success rate of these initiatives has shown higher satisfaction levels for both providers and patients. RPM is highly effective and impacts improving recovery and preventing hospital admissions. This makes providers more comfortable using RPM in other clinical practice areas.
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