Remote Patient Monitoring Technologies and Its Impact on Healthcare

Michaela Bowers, Manager, Patient Access Services, University Hospitals

The remote patient monitoring technology enables patients to have higher involvement in the management of their health, removing the cost of nursing and hospitalization.

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) can help mitigate the stress and burden of in-person care on providers and patients. It is a healthcare delivery system that implements technology to monitor patient health outside of a clinical setting. It gathers biometric data from a patient’s location, then evaluate and translate the data, and send it to the caretaker at another location. It eliminates the need for re-admissions and appointments to the hospital.

RPM solutions integrated with modern healthcare technology have shown to be clinically effective symptom management tools and enable risk-bearing organizations to remotely monitor patients with chronic conditions, which will help in reducing cost and re-admission, enhance care quality, and optimize access to care for patients.

Various RPM solutions have different approaches, requiring technology that gathers and translates biometric and physiological data.

Here are Four Remote Patient Monitoring Wearables and Mobile Devices:

• A smart health watch is an advanced healthcare tool that can allow users to read notifications, send simple messages, and make phone calls, track heart rate count, track health, sleep, and activity, among others.

• Wearable blood pressure monitors can measure blood pressure and daily activities like steps taken, calories burned, and advise how personal habits affect blood pressure.

• A wearable biosensor is a self-adhesive patch that gathers data on movement, heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature. The patch streams data to the patient’s smartphone and transfers it to the healthcare provider.

• Wearable ECG monitor can measure an electrocardiogram and transfer the readings to the healthcare provider, recording the data into the patient’s health report. It can also monitor atrial fibrillation, distance, and elevation, which can help in preventive care.