How Remote Patient Monitoring Improves Chronic Care Management?

Chronic illness has a long-term effect on society. This puts a heavy burden on the healthcare system because of medical expenses and less productivity. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, individuals suffering from chronic illness as well as mental health issues are responsible for 90% of the country’s healthcare expenses.

Monitoring remote patients remotely enables healthcare professionals to identify and evaluate patient’s conditions enhancing care and chronic illness treatment. Integrating remote patient monitoring solutions benefits patient’s and also supports care providers in terms of efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

This particular article will explore the practical advantages of the Remote Patient Monitoring system specifically in Chronic Care Management and how it is leveraging healthcare organizations.

The Role of Remote Patient Monitoring

Utilizing digital technologies, remote patient monitoring solutions gather data from patients in distant locations and notify the healthcare providers for further treatment. Implementing RPM fosters a personalized treatment plan and timely intervention.

Integrated Remote Patient Monitoring System: The Overview

Remote patient monitoring devices monitor vital health data like blood pressure, heart rate, blood glucose levels, oxygen saturation level, etc. The data collected from these devices is then transmitted wirelessly either via Bluetooth or WiFi to an individual’s smartphone or laptop. This plays a significant role in reducing the manual labor of the care providers while also ensuring accurate health records. The gathered data is then transmitted to medical assistants via robust solutions. This significantly boosts healthcare responsiveness.

The final component of a remote patient monitoring system comprises linking the collected data with the patient’s Electronic Health Records (EHR). EHR is defined as a long-term analysis of the patient’s health history. This integration helps in making important decisions at the right time and also offers a detailed historical context to the care provider.

The Role of Chronic Disease Management

Continuous support is provided by care professionals for long-term illnesses like mental health issues, diabetes, heart problems, Alzheimer’s, or any other illness that persists for six months or more is termed Chronic Disease Management.

6 out of 10 Americans are currently facing chronic illness. Therefore reaching out to medical assistants is the only way they will become better and improve symptoms. RPM serves as a bridge between patients suffering from chronic diseases and healthcare providers, making sure they receive the best possible treatment and care. It also assists the care providers in identifying and monitoring high-risk patients, supporting care transitions, and enhancing at-home care compliance as per requirement.

Advantages of Remote Patient Monitoring in Chronic Disease Management 

As aforementioned, RPM complements chronic disease management by enabling healthcare providers to gather patients’ data remotely and instantly monitor them. Let’s explore the benefits of this integration for care professionals:

• Constant monitoring : Chronic care management involves follow-ups on a monthly basis to analyze the patient’s treatment plan. On the contrary, remote patient monitoring follows a more dynamic approach as it gathers real-time information. As a result of which, the patients don’t have to remember their previous month’s symptoms. Remote patient monitoring enables healthcare professionals to monitor vitals and alter the treatment plan if required.

For example, someone who suffers from hypertension should have a specific blood pressure level. This patient’s progress can be analyzed with health monitoring devices like glucometers. Additionally, monitoring patient’s real-time data remotely allows for a more nuanced understanding of the individual’s condition, allowing timely intervention by the care providers. This further boosts the frequency of health assessments while delivering more responsive and effective care.

• Intervention at the right time: As care providers, the ability to detect the smallest change in your patient’s health vitals early is important in order to avoid complications. Remote patient monitoring solutions empower real-time data and timely intervention before the health conditions worsen.

For instance, when it comes to detecting blood sugar levels, remote patient monitoring has a high sensitivity (98.7% and specificity 99.3%). Such features allow timely notification to the medical professionals and they can then adjust a patient’s medication while reducing the risk of hospitalizations.

• More patient engagement: Remote patient monitoring supports chronic care management by providing health care professionals with comprehensive patient data thereby enabling personalized treatment and care based on their individual requirements.

This specific approach boosts patient engagement by allowing them to proactively participate in their healthcare journey. Having updated health vitals at their fingertips, care providers can empower patients to understand their health-related issues fostering adherence to their treatment plan.

• Cost-effectiveness: By integrating remote patient monitoring with chronic care management, healthcare professionals can significantly cut down on costs. This collaboration also plays a crucial role in creating an additional revenue stream for the care providers as it minimizes hospital admissions and frequent ER visits.

By leveraging chronic care management and remote patient management, healthcare centers can proactively analyze an individual’s health issues. This approach further enhances the clinical outcomes thereby decreasing the financial burden on patients as well as the healthcare system.

• Increase profit margins: By decreasing operational costs, RMP enhances profit margins for healthcare organizations. In-person visits need supplies like gloves and sanitizers etc. for every patient but RPM decreases the requirement for physical resources thereby boosting cost effectiveness for healthcare clinics. This approach enhances the profit-to-loss ratio by increasing appointment numbers and decreasing resource consumption.

Chronic Care Use Cases of RPM 

Remote patient monitoring has become significantly important today for healthcare organizations as it improves patient outcomes and addresses specific chronic illnessess. RMP treatments are specifically being deployed for those suffering from diabetes, hypertension, and respiratory illness.

• Diabetes: Healthcare professionals should incorporate remote patient monitoring to improve treatment plans for those suffering from diabetes. Glucose monitors play a significant role as they monitor blood glucose levels. This eventually notifies the healthcare provider enabling timely intervention and alerting them to alter the treatment plan.

There was a study in 2019 that stated a patient utilizing a remote patient monitoring solution was able to monitor lower HB A1c levels. The personalized treatment plan curated for the patient helped him become stable. Research from Stanford Children’s Health claimed that remote patient monitoring tools help aid not only type 2 diabetes but also type 1 diabetes in children. 53% of children were able to control their blood glucose levels with the help of RPM devices.                                     

• Hypertension: Several studies demonstrate that remote patient monitoring is an efficient way to manage high blood pressure benefiting individuals who are suffering from hypertension. This proactive approach is beneficial for healthcare providers as they can intervene and suggest lifestyle changes to patients to maintain healthy blood pressure levels.

Another study analyzed that 81% of patients suffering from hypertension utilized home-based blood pressure monitoring systems and were stabilized within seven weeks. Additionally, these BP monitoring devices were also more reliable and accurate than a few clinical devices or kiosks.

• Respiratory Conditions: Diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma can be successfully cured with the help of remote patient monitoring solutions. The devices monitor lung function and detect breathing patterns thereby assisting in optimizing medical treatment by the care professionals.

Research proved RMP solutions were capable of enhancing the accuracy of COPD diagnosis and treatment. Moreover, 98% of patients found RPM solutions convenient and expressed their willingness to utilize them during their pulmonary rehab program. This eventually has a positive impact on the care staff.

Integrate RPM into Chronic Care Management & Transform Patient Care

Chronic care management is an ever-evolving journey that requires customization as per the patient’s health conditions. Remote patient monitoring is always making headlines and proving itself in the healthcare industry. In this technology-oriented world, healthcare organizations need expert advisory services to enhance their chronic care management process and treatment.

Having years of experience in delivering successful results and high patient engagement, Healtharc is ever ready to become your reliable partner. This unified virtual care platform offers valuable guidance for effective RPM implementation. Our clinically advanced and integrated monitoring software ensures patients and care teams stay connected, anytime, anywhere.