Leveraging Remote Patient Monitoring Solutions to Mitigate the Impact of the Global Pandemic

P atient recovery, especially from COVID-19, could be challenging. It may be difficult for patients to decide if they need to re-visit a physician during the pandemic times—increasing risks of exposure to the virus. Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) tools enable digital care by tracking and monitoring patients’ health conditions—giving providers valuable and in-depth health insights.

Real-time Insights

RPM solutions can provide real-time insights—helping patients and caregivers decide on further action. IoT-enabled devices such as thermometers, oximeters, phone applications and others are leveraged to collect data and provide actionable insights to healthcare consumers and care providers alike.

A comprehensive report by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) on COVID-19 Applications and Policy Changes, highlights about Remote Patient Monitoring solutions. It emphasizes the fact that RPM can help Physicians to monitor essential aspects including blood pressure, pulmonary function, temperature and others that help in disease and symptom progression.

Patient monitoring with such in-depth insights is especially crucial right now—considering the long-term impact of the COVID-19 virus including organ damage among other detrimental effects during this time.

Benefits of Monitoring COVID-19 Patients at Home

Remote Patient Monitoring enables proactive patient care than reactive care—preventing reoccurrence of issues, thereby reducing readmissions—benefiting staff and patients largely. Care navigators who were previously calling each discharged patient to get their health updates are now seamlessly able to automatically monitor health conditions generated through data such as heart rate, oxygen saturation levels, activity levels and sleep quality.

These data are automatically sent to a dashboard that triggers alerts based on emergencies, and prioritizes case leads requiring immediate intervention. This also gives patients peace of mind as they know that their health conditions are being regularly monitored and the right measures are taken as and when needed.

Tracking COVID-19 Symptoms using Apps and Wearables

Prior to the pandemic scenario, Remote Patient Monitoring tools such as blood glucose monitors, blood pressure cuffs were used to track and ensure medication adherence. Research indicates that 88% of healthcare providers have integrated or evaluating Remote Patient Monitoring solutions in 2019. However, the public health emergency has led to a sudden spike in the adoption of RPM solutions making them a key strategy in their patient engagement solutions.

Remote Patient Monitoring Use Cases

Use Case 1

A single-physician clinic in Cleveland has implemented an RPM tool that allows COVID-19 patients to enroll for an interactive care plan from home. They can update their symptoms on a daily basis, while care providers get automated notifications if symptoms become worse.

Use Case 2

In a hospital in California, patients who showed mild symptoms of COVID-19 were given Remote Patient Monitoring tools that were connected to their care coordination solutions, which triggered automated reports and insights for further action.

How to Set Up Remote Patient Monitoring in Healthcare

Healthcare organizations need to consider several factors before commencing a Remote Patient Monitoring Program. Here are top six considerations before launching an RPM program.

Gather the stakeholders:

Involve the key stakeholders including the C-suite executives and other leaders across all departments while creating an RPM plan. Get their feedbacks, insights and logistical pain points before you develop a roadmap.

Identify your audience:

You need to identify specific audiences in terms of long-term or short-term care and various other criteria as Remote Patient Monitoring tools require personalization and tailored solutions.

Determine key goals:

Providers need to set clear objectives and the results they aim to achieve using the platform to evaluate how data-driven insights will help meet the goals.

Assess infrastructure:

Physicians would receive huge chunks of patient data. Hence, a high-speed internet connection as well as hyper-connected devices ensure consistent and streamlined data transfer.

Choose the right devices:

Do an audience research to understand your audiences preferences in terms of the devices. Older audiences are most likely to choose preconfigured simple-to-use devices, whereas the younger generation may prefer BYOD.

Train the users:

Even the best technologies will not be of use if they fail in user adoption. Provide clear training and ensure that they effectively use the necessary tools at the right time to improve patient outcomes.

To learn more on cutting-edge Remote Patient Monitoring solutions, talk to our team.