Remote Patient Monitoring: The Future of Telehealth

July 6, 2022 - The future of telehealth technology and virtual healthcare is the development of Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) technology.?

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, hospitals have experienced more patients with no increase in medical personnel. This ultimately leads nurses and physicians to experience burnout at a higher rate than ever before. As a result, the development of RPM technology and telehealth monitoring increased to lower staff burnout. As one Philips employee states:?

"As clinicians work to navigate increased workloads, safety concerns, and transitions to remote care settings, they require solutions that map to these increasingly challenging circumstances."– General Manager of Monitoring Analytics at Philips.?

With these needs in mind, the RPM industry has shown massive development in innovation and implementation. Eventually, RPM technology began to transition into telehealth as more devices and software-enabled doctors to provide care to patients at home. So what is considered RPM??

As a top strategic healthcare consulting firm, Bainbridge has categorized RPM into three segments: Hardware, Software, and Services. RPM hardware includes vital sign monitors and other specialized devices used by medical personnel to check on patients from a distance. The software segment connects Hardware to a platform that is used by medical personnel to organize patient status. Due to the significant investment in this industry, many digital health companies provide services to maintain equipment and software.?

Our primary business strategy consulting service utilizes our unique customer insights methodology, Customer Account Vulnerability Assessment, CAVA?. Leveraging CAVA?, the diligent healthcare consulting analysts at Bainbridge have recognized three main end-users, as displayed below.?

RPM in the ICU monitors critical condition patients using eICU programs, vital sign devices, and RPM software. They are primarily used to catch early patient decline alarms and solve staff shortage issues. RPM in the ICU has three main components: 1) Vital sign monitoring, 2) RPM Software, and 3) eICU.??

RPM in Med/Surg uses vital signs and specialized monitors that can connect to RPM software. Care teams use these monitors to check the status of patients in the general ward. RPM in Med/Surg has two components 1) Products and 2) RPM Software. Patients use RPM software and devices on the general care floor.??

RPM in Home uses wearable monitors and devices that connect to RPM software. These monitors are made for patients to help improve treatment management, care plan adherence, and prevent hospital readmissions. RPM within the home segment has three main components: 1) RPM Software, 2) Patient Intervention 3) Hardware. Patients use RPM software and devices at Home to reduce hospital readmission within 30 days post-discharge.?

Competitors in the Remote Patient Monitoring space mainly focus on monitoring high-acuity patients with chronic conditions. This population shows the highest variance in vitals and is at the most significant risk of going into crisis. Recently, the industry has debated using data from a predictive perspective and taking a more proactive approach to reduce the risk of patient admission in the medium to long term.??

Rapid growth and data disruption strategies in the RPM market have attracted various medical device startups and innovators. Most of the players in this space focus their participation where there is the most growth.??

Many startups and innovators are launching unique strategies through partnerships and product innovation. At the same time, other small- to medium- size companies are quickly growing in the same marketplace as Medtronic, Masimo, Philips, and GE. These companies are expected to take market share in the medium to long term.?

The healthcare industry continues to develop RPM technology to improve patient outcomes and reduce the burnout experienced by healthcare professionals. Simultaneously, companies hope to improve access to care by expanding patient monitoring into the patient homes. With the combined effect of COVID-19 and companies combining RPM with telehealth features, the feature of Telehealth is strongly influenced by the development of RPM.?

For more details about our healthcare strategic planning consulting services, please contact us through our webpage or at [email protected].??

Bainbridge is the MIT-founded, Forbes top-ranked Strategic Advisory firm with over $32B capital under management. Bainbridge is a top healthcare strategy consulting firm and has worked alongside many Fortune 1000 companies. Bainbridge partners with over 30 top PE groups worldwide to provide strategic advisory services. For over four decades, Bainbridge has worked with executives directly to provide strategic and capital opportunities to grow their strategies.?