How Remote Patient Monitoring Supports Better Patient Care

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) allows healthcare providers to expand their practice and provide care beyond the walls of a traditional clinic. RPM makes use of household consumer electronics, usually in conjunction with medical devices, to measure and transmit a patient’s vital signs and other pertinent health information to the care team. Providers using this technology are often able to build a more complete picture of a patient’s health and wellness status between face-to-face meetings.

RPM is a type of telehealth that is asynchronous, so the patient and care provider need not interact in real time for the care provider to gather the information they need to make an appropriate clinical decision. To gather the information the care provider needs to make that decision, a wide range of electronic devices can be used to measure and transmit a patient’s vital signs and other health information.

The Benefits of Remote Patient Monitoring

Some of the information gathered via remote patient monitoring may be useful to the care team in addressing various issues related to a patient’s overall health and wellness. The information may help care teams address health concerns related to chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes and may help to address heart and lung conditions as well.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, RPM has the potential to transform traditional healthcare by enabling clinical teams to shift their focus to more proactive and ongoing patient engagement, care management, and health improvement activities.

Key ways RPM can support patient care include:

• Better management of health conditions between office visits.
• Recognizing health condition trends over time.
• Assisting with decisions regarding the best treatment and medication for a patient.
• Encouraging and facilitating a patient’s participation in their own care.
• Minimizing the need for a patient to physically travel to a healthcare facility.
• Enhancing communication between a patient and their care team.
• Aiding the care team in the management of a patient’s chronic condition.

Creating a More Complete Picture of Patient Health

Off-site health condition monitoring allows the care team to gain a better understanding of a patient’s health and wellness conditions outside of the confines of a traditional healthcare setting. This information may assist the care team in developing and implementing a comprehensive healthcare management plan for a patient with chronic health conditions.

Conditions That Can Benefit From RPM

RPM can be utilized for patients suffering from various conditions, including heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes.

Possible uses include:

• Heart failure and other cardiovascular conditions
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma
• Management of Diabetes and Hypertension
• Obesity and other conditions requiring measurement and assessment of weight
• Pregnancy-Related Hypertension
• Postoperative Care
• Other conditions requiring assessment of vital signs

In the case of assessment and management of a particular condition, the clinical team will determine what devices are necessary to assess and monitor the patient. Devices to monitor and assess weight, heart function, and respiratory function can vary depending on the clinical condition of the patient.

Example: Supporting a Patient With Heart Failure

A patient with heart failure monitors his weight to manage fluid buildup. Weight gain can be an indicator for the care team to take further action.

The reading does not automatically determine the next steps to be taken. The care team may need to analyze the data in the reading and take other steps, such as contacting the patient, to determine next steps, including possibly altering the patient’s care plan.

Improving Patient Engagement and Self-Management

Through this process, patients may learn more about their health and the factors that may impact their condition. HHS has cited similar benefits of RPM, including improving patient engagement and health education as well as promoting behavior change and health prevention.

Healthcare systems should continue to cultivate patient engagement and participation through RPM by using technology that facilitates and supports the process of healthcare.

Supporting Earlier Clinical Intervention

RPM provides clinicians the opportunity to review a patient’s health status data between face-to-face appointments. If a material data change occurs, the clinician may contact the patient to take a new reading, schedule an appointment, or amend the patient’s care plan.

Just because a reading is out of the norm doesn’t mean it’s a true medical emergency. Each reading must be assessed depending on the patient’s symptoms and underlying conditions, the patient’s normal or baseline condition, medications, and other factors. Based on these, certain readings may require the patient to be seen by a health care provider, and others may not.

Improving Care Coordination

The goal of all healthcare programs is to improve the health of the population they serve. RPM can improve the health of the community by allowing multiple healthcare workers to have up to date information about the patient.

According to the HHS, one of the ways telehealth can improve care of individuals with chronic conditions is by enhancing care coordination.

An effective RPM platform can help organize:

• Capture and track patient health measurements
• Manage care activities and tasks
• Document clinical information
• Support workflow for care team communications and care activities
• Trigger and track care activities
• Interact with and integrate with other solutions
• Measure and report on care activities

RPM solutions provide a centralized location for care activities and user interactions. This can improve efficiency for care team members to understand what has occurred and what actions may be required of them.

Choosing Technology That Supports Patient Care

There are many technologies that can improve the RPM solution. The technology should improve the health and wellness of the patient, as well as the efficiency of the user (care team member). The technology should improve the workflow of the care team and automate tasks as much as possible. Solutions should be integrated with each other to improve care activities and enhance reporting.

Considerations for health care organizations interested in remote patient monitoring (RPM) include:

• Integration of RPM with connected devices
• Bi-directional data flow
• Interoperability of RPM with electronic health records
• Meaningful communication with patients
• Care Team dashboards
• Alert management and workflow
• Document RPM activities
• Generate reports and analyze data

Device usability should also be evaluated. A complex device may be of no clinical benefit if patients do not understand its functions or what it measures.

Protecting Patient Information

Protection and privacy of patient data is of utmost importance when transmitting and storing patient data. The HIPAA Security Rule requires that health care providers implement a reasonable level of security to protect the privacy and integrity of patient data. Security controls should be integrated into an RPM solution during the design and development phase to address the privacy and security needs of patient data.

When evaluating an RPM vendor, a health care organization should review the following:

• Access controls
• Data encryption
• Audit trails
• Storage of customer data
• Security risk assessments
• Incident response planning
• Contracts with business associates
• Vendor’s commitment to security

Prioritizing clinical and functional needs and integration of security controls helps health care organizations provide patient care while maintaining privacy and security of health data.

Contribution of RPM to the Overall Patient Service Offering

RPM has the potential to supplement and extend services offered by the healthcare system. It has the potential to enhance regular in-person and virtual visits, chronic care management, and other time-limited care and management services.

Healthcare systems should evaluate their service offerings and processes to determine when and how RPM would help them achieve their goal of providing better and more efficient care to patients.

There should be a strong clinical rationale for incorporating RPM to extend other clinical services. RPM has the potential to improve overall patient care and reduce the time burden on staff if it is properly integrated and supported by other clinical resources.

Conclusion

Remote patient monitoring allows for extended and continuous patient observation. This has the potential to enhance engagement and transformation across care delivery. There are several factors to consider for remote patient monitoring to be successful. The devices must be reliable. Tellihealth can be a valuable asset for health care providers who wish to extend and improve their patient care services.

FAQs

What is remote patient monitoring?

Remote patient monitoring utilizes telehealth technology to allow health care providers to collect patient data in a location other than a health care facility.

How does remote patient monitoring impact patient care?

RPM provides asynchronous management of health conditions. It helps clinical staff recognize positive and negative health trends and facilitates staff interaction with patients to promote and improve health.

In what conditions can RPM be implemented?

The conditions that most benefit from RPM are, but are not limited to, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other conditions that require regular assessment and management of physiological parameters.

Which devices can be used for RPM?

Devices used for RPM include but are not limited to blood pressure measuring devices, weight and body composition devices, oxygen saturation devices, cardiac monitoring devices, and wearable and implantable devices for the measurement of respiration and other physiologic parameters.