Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is a promising field.
Remote patient monitoring is a promising field. It has the potential to improve clinical outcomes and reduce chronic care costs. However, hospitals in Indian struggle with the technology with an overwhelming load of information and at times at the reliability of the devices.
Is the technology really evolved to solve huge healthcare problems in a country like India? Can patients really trust the data? Are hospitals ready to adopt it? Let’s try to find out.
What Is Remote Patient Monitoring?
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) or Telehealth is a type of ambulatory healthcare helping patients and doctors use mobile medical devices to track vitals or/and analyze data in real-time.
RPM technology usually includes monitoring devices such as heart or blood pressure trackers for patients receiving care in the hospital. The recorded/live data is then sent to a physician by using a cloud-connected system with the help of an application on the doctor’s phone.
In the recent years, several tech healthcare companies have created systems to store the data in a relational database, so a doctor can later view it as a specific instance or as a trend to make informed clinical decisions.
What Are the Key Benefits of Remote Patient Monitoring?
There is no denying that Remote Patient Monitoring is one of the most promising technologies but are hospitals ready to adopt it? Has the tech evolved to demonstrate clinical, financial and operational benefits to the hospitals? Let’s take a look at the benefits.
Saves Money
Remote Patient Monitoring saves money. Period. According to the National Broadband Plan drafted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), health care industry could save $700 billion in the next 15 to 20 years with the use of remote patient monitoring technology in conjunction with electronic health records (EHR). With this technology, official physician visits reduce too. This way, physicians are more efficient during their consultation hours without having to physically visit the patients every few hours.
While we have already discussed the financial benefits of the RPM technology, it is important to understand that this is the most quantifiable ROI for a hospital. They can save on operational costs by reducing re-admissions, staff engagement, and in-person visits. Having said that, hospitals can direct these resources to other patients and increase their efficiency and revenues.
Makes healthcare accessible
Remote monitoring enables patients to get consultation without having to visit a medical practitioner. This advantage is critical for people dealing with chronic illnesses who must share long-term health data with the doctor. The technology ensures timely communication, quick counseling, and time to make preventive measured if deemed necessary.
Makes healthcare efficient
According to the Ernst and Young’s recent survey, 65% of physicians believe that “technology that captures consumer-generated data will reduce the burden on doctors and nurses specifically”. Staff burnout is a critical operational efficiency problem for most hospitals. Artificial Intelligence-powered remote patient monitoring technologies automate process redundancies and help offload several manual tasks.
Makes healthcare consumer-centric
Incorporating cloud-connected monitoring systems in the recovery can significantly improve the patient experience. Patients recovering under remote monitoring systems report patient satisfaction and increased gratitude towards the hospital. Remotely-generated data helps healthcare providers to record, analyze, and predict. The process enables clinicians to prevent complications and treat patients sooner. The recorded insights prove to be helpful in condition management and patient engagement.
What Lies Ahead
Remote Patient Monitoring is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 48.9 percent through 2020, reaching an estimated 36.1 million patients according to Berg Insights. And yet, the lack of options and tech limitations are making Indian hospitals delay adoption.
- There aren’t any reliable options in the country. Additionally, doctors and hospitals do not fully understand the impact of such technology in terms or financial and clinical ROIs.
- Doctor or nurse to wonder whether the data coming in from the patient is accurate enough to support a diagnosis or treatment plan.
- Devices and platforms that capture too much data threaten to overwhelm the provider with useless information.
Although, in the coming years, the explosive availability and popularity of consumer health devices, as well as the increased willingness and ability of consumers to capture and share personal information, will significantly contribute to the continual growth of remote monitoring in clinical settings. How do we solve the above-stated three major problems in the Indian market?
AI/ML is trying to solve this with a continuous remote patient monitoring system that measures six core vital signs, deploys predictive AI at the bedside and provides actionable insights to clinicians at any time, and anywhere.
The design of the RPM focuses on simplicity than overwhelming the hospital staff with information. We have replaced the traditional waveforms and numbers with easily interpretable color-based icons to relieve patient/family bedside anxiety that results from traditional vitals monitors. It enhances the patient experience of monitoring and improves patient management through its intuitive application that serves as a centralized digital patient case sheet. Through the App doctors can remotely manage vulnerable patients on their smartphones with real-time vitals and high-resolution long-term trends.
We believe that what may be a competitive differentiator today is positioned to be table stakes over the coming decade. Remote Patient Monitoring is on its way to becoming a necessity at the hospitals in the next 5 years and we are on a mission to do it better than anyone else.
Hardik Patel | (+91) 99136 77177