A staple of today’s digital age is an increasing societal shift to embrace technology to improve lives. In educational settings, teachers use online resources to provide access to more students. In business, time-consuming commutes have been replaced with virtual meetings and hybrid work schedules. In healthcare, the cultural shift has resulted in remote patient monitoring, and for good reason.
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) can improve medical outcomes, reduce costs, and improve the overall experience for all parties involved. In the following article, we look at what exactly remote patient monitoring is, and how remote patient monitoring companies can benefit consumers and healthcare professionals alike.
What Is Remote Patient Monitoring?
Remote patient monitoring is the use of technology allowing patients to collect health-related data and send it to relevant healthcare professionals. The main emphasis is the word remote. Instead of going into a doctor’s office to get their vital signs checked, the patient can track some of this data on their own. The key to unlocking the many benefits of remote patient monitoring is providing data on a consistent schedule.
So what is remote patient monitoring used for? RPM is particularly helpful for patients managing chronic illnesses and other people who need to provide frequent check-ins and updates to their doctors. In these cases, healthcare professionals can provide patients with equipment to monitor some of their symptoms at home. A few examples of this remote patient monitoring include patients who:
- Take their blood pressure using a monitor
- Check their blood oxygen saturation with a pulse oximeter
- Track their blood glucose levels with a glucometer
- Take their temperature with a thermometer
- Track their weight using a scale
- Monitor their heart activity with ECGs and other heart monitors
Who Needs Remote Patient Monitoring?
The people who use and need remote patient monitoring fall into two main groups: healthcare providers or patients. The good news is that both groups reap the benefits of RPM. Let’s take a look at how each of these groups take advantage of remote patient monitoring.
Healthcare Providers
From the perspective of a healthcare provider, there are several advantages of patients with a monitoring system that allows either party to remotely check in. For starters, remote patient monitoring provides many of the same benefits as other “remote” experiences. It frees up time in people’s schedules. It also allows for a certain level of flexibility. But beyond that, RPM accounts for some very tangible outcomes for healthcare professionals. These include:
- 60% fewer false alerts
- 97% monthly patient retention
- 5-6x efficiency gain in staff coverage
- 10x increase in the amount of monitoring data
- $7,000 cost savings per patient per year
Additionally, RPM can assist healthcare facilities in providing value based care (VBC) which inherently comes with its own benefits.
Patients
On the other hand, patients also benefit from RPM in a number of ways. Perhaps the most important question is whether or not remote patient monitoring costs any less than traditional healthcare. For most patients, the answer is yes. RPM can help patients save money on travel expenses and time off from work for starters. However, the real savings of RPM come in the sense that it is a kind of preventative medicine. That is to say, by constantly monitoring signs and symptoms, doctors are alerted to potential causes for concern right away. This can lead to better and more immediate care and prevent huge medical bills from stacking up in the future.
Aside from costs, RPM provides patients with other benefits such as:
- 61% fewer hospital admissions
- 50% fewer days spent in the hospital
- 43% fewer ER visits
- 40% fewer fluctuations in patient vital signs
- 70% improvement in patient engagement
- 40% improvement in patient satisfaction
Harmonize Health…Bringing Patients and Providers Together
At Harmonize Health, we know there are plenty of benefits to remote patient monitoring, for all parties involved. RPM can save time and money, improve outcomes, and ultimately provide better care in a more timely manner. It’s hard to argue with the remote patient monitoring statistics. Quite simply RPM is revolutionizing the way people think about public healthcare.
However, remote patient monitoring is only as good as the platform you use. After all, if patients can’t reliably upload their data or doctors can’t regularly access it, the benefits of RPM are basically non-existent. At Harmonize Health, our platform keeps patients and doctors front and center by emphasizing an easy user experience. From the mobile app to the reliable communication and support, we take pride in bringing harmony to your healthcare. To learn more, contact us today.
