Remote patient monitoring is a significant feature of home-based Telehealth. It enables the use of technology by patients to collect and transmit vital health data to healthcare professionals through mobile devices. The following paragraphs will describe Telehealth’s impact on Healthcare as a whole, in light of recent challenges.

Telehealth and COVID-19

The Covid outbreak forced everyone to stay at home. It quickly created a demand for innovative solutions for remote healthcare delivery. And with pressures mounting on state governments to adequately test their populations, there was an even greater need for a technology that can screen and diagnose patients without ever running the chance of exposing them to the virus. Telehealth filled that need.

Benefits of Telehealth

Remote Patient Monitoring devices grant patients a central role in managing their health, a benefit proven to boost morale and recovery. On the provider side, Telehealth enhances the quality of care that they can afford patients by supplying healthcare providers with a constant stream of data that accurately depicts the state of their patients’ health.

Nevertheless, Telehealth guides patients through illness by providing constant information and feedback on their condition. The system will also provide emotional support through the rigours of persistent monitoring. Patients quickly realize that peace of mind derives from knowing that any potential threat to their health will be promptly identified.

Examples of Remote Patient Monitoring Technology

Healthcare providers typically use Remote Patient Monitoring to assist patients who require chronic, post-discharge or senior care. This technology varies in complexity, from handheld medical devices to online platforms powered by sophisticated AI to analyze patient data and extract insights.  These are a few examples of conditions that frequently rely on this type of technology:

Diabetes

The proper treatment of diabetes requires constant command over multiple health variables, mainly blood pressure, weight, and blood glucose level. Telehealth helps patients with diabetes by delivering accurate and recurrent blood glucose/pressure readings to healthcare providers, who will diligently intervene when the readings are problematic.

Congestive Heart Failure

According to the American Heart Association, heart failures cost Americans about $30.7 US billion in 2012. More recent research shows  that Remote Patient Monitoring significantly reduces those costs while improving the patient’s quality of life by

•  Strengthening Patient-Provider relationships as patients realize the benefits of a more personal treatment.
• Shortening or even eliminating hospital stays, which are proven to dampen patient morale.
• And we are reducing the overall financial burden on traditional healthcare systems.

Asthma Management

Electronic respiratory monitors help in the proper administration of asthma treatments. Studies show that continuous monitoring is directly linked to better asthma control, more symptom-free days, and a lower need for rescue medication.

Limitations of Telehealth

The success of the Remote Patient Monitoring system derives from the quality of its data. That is why it is paramount that patient data transmitted from Telehealth sensor devices be exact, up-to-date, and adequately contextualized with the patient’s medical history. As such, Telehealth data may and should require human verification from time to time to maintain reasonable accuracy.

The systems and devices must comply with the FDA’s healthcare management standards. Although FDA oversight is intended to benefit patients, the associated overheads may eventually drive up device costs.

Conclusion

Telehealth’s benefits are countless and far outweigh its drawbacks. The system is readily available to patients anywhere and will continue to evolve as usage increases and technologies improve. Remote Patient Monitoring gives versatility and independence to both the patient and the provider. It successfully sells the idea that high-quality Healthcare does not have to be limited to a hospital setting.

RPMAhealthcare is a comprehensive and robust telehealth solution for healthcare professionals, clinics, hospitals, and businesses seeking to provide patients with high-quality remote care. The solution is tailored to the needs of both Doctors, Patients and Providers.

RPMAhealthcare is a mature and scalable RPM platform that has been in full-scale production deployment across the EU for eight years, handling millions of patients and collecting tens of millions of records. The solution is both disease-agnostic & device-agnostic, supporting any individual patient’s needs.

Among the platform’s key features are:

• Pre-configured high ROI conditions
• +40 patient indicators
• Comorbidity Support
• Integration with any EHR/EMR
• And ISO 13485-2016 certification.

The platform offers clinically proven patient pathways for COPD, CHF, and diabetes. The goal is to provide patients with the right tools to manage their own lifestyles in ways that will effectively prevent unwanted hospital visits.