Remote Patient Monitoring and Chronic-Care Patients
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as much as 60% of American adults live with a chronic disease, and four in 10 adults live with two. Chronic conditions are the leading cause of death and disability in the country, and they are the top drivers of our $3.8 trillion annual healthcare expense.
That’s the bad news.
The good news? There is a single, modern solution that takes on each of these challenges.
Remote patient monitoring is the best way to monitor chronic-care patients, keep them actively participating in their individual health plans, and deliver better, more affordable outcomes.
Continuous monitoring & patient engagement
With a comprehensive platform such as CGM RPM Remote Patient Monitoring, providers empower patients to take regular measurements at home using simple, wireless devices such as a blood pressure cuff, scale, or pulse oximeter.
These measurements are relayed back to the doctor via a dedicated mobile device, and the results are stored in an easy-to-use, cloud-based platform that the provider’s office can access using any web-enabled device, at any time.
CGM RPM alerts doctors whenever a measurement goes beyond a predetermined threshold. This can include going above or below a certain number, or meeting specific conditions for a specific number of days or measurements in a row.
Through its technology and simplicity, remote patient monitoring enables providers to track the health of patients with conditions ranging from hypertension and obesity to chronic lung disease.
Individual Health Plans for chronic care
Individualized health plans are critical in treating chronic conditions. Different patients will seek a different balance in health versus quality of life, and remote patient monitoring helps providers and patients achieve and maintain this balance.
With remote patient monitoring, providers can adjust a patient’s thresholds and goals to fit their unique conditions and physiology.
One provider who has taken this approach to heart is Dr. Jeffrey Hyman, who opened The Treat and Release Center of Bay Ridge Brooklyn in Brooklyn, New York, in 1984. Dr. Hyman is part of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer for eMDs, a brand of CompuGroup Medical.
In 2021, Dr. Hyman has more than 700 remote patient monitoring kits in the field, and he shared the story of one patient who is enjoying particularly amazing results.
“This patient came to see me with congestive heart failure,” said Dr. Hyman. This was a patient who found himself in the hospital every three weeks because of his condition.
Dr. Hyman prescribed a low-salt diet and issued a digital scale for the patient to monitor his weight daily.
“When he first came to see me, he weighed 327 pounds,” Dr. Hyman said. “Last month, he reached his lowest weight at 238 pounds, and he hasn’t been to the emergency room since he started the remote monitoring program. It’s just amazing. It blows me away.”
Better Outcomes for chronic conditions
As we see with Dr. Hyman’s patient, remote patient monitoring leads to better health outcomes and a reduction in readmissions.
According to a report by Becker’s Hospital Review, remote patient monitoring reduces readmissions by 25%, lowers costs by 17%, and improves patient satisfaction by 25%.
Through regular measurements, thresholds, and alerts, remote patient monitoring enables an immediate response to changes in a chronic-care patient’s condition. With a healthcare-at-home solution that includes a HIPAA-certified telehealth platform such as CGM ELVI Telemedicine, providers can contact patients faster than ever to make changes to a health plan or determine next steps.
“Once we let these patients know that we’re monitoring them and that somebody cares and is watching, they respond so much better,” Dr. Hyman said.
As remote patient monitoring devices become smarter and more affordable, more and more patients are enjoying the benefits of improved chronic care. Insider Intelligence estimates that 30 million US patients, or more than 11% of the population, will be using remote patient monitoring by 2024. That would mark a 28% increase from 23.4 million patients in 2020.
The size, scope, and cost of chronic care in America is overwhelming, but a modern remote patient monitoring platform helps providers overcome these challenges and deliver better health outcomes. Offer remote patient monitoring at your practice, and it will be your patients who report that 25% increase in patient satisfaction.
