Two recent studies highlight the benefits of remote patient monitoring (RPM) for improving patient outcomes and expanding access to care outside hospital walls for those with complex conditions. From enabling home hospital-level care to improving outcomes for vulnerable infants with heart disease, at-home health monitoring technologies are paving the way for emerging virtual wards and care models.
Specifically, this article summarizes two published studies showcasing RPM innovations in transitional home care and reducing care disparities in infants with heart disease.
Remote Patient Monitoring for Patients: Technology for Infants With Heart Disease
Remote patient monitoring is a form of telehealth. It allows providers to monitor and manage their patients’ chronic conditions. A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association examined whether a remote monitoring program called the Cardiac High Acuity Monitoring Program could help improve outcomes for infants with single-ventricle heart disease, especially those from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds.
The researchers studied 610 infants across 11 centers from 2014 to 2021. The programs provided remote patient monitoring for patients and their caregiver with a mobile app to transfer infant health data to clinicians. The findings showed that, despite improvements in survival over time, infants with single-ventricle heart disease still face high mortality rates. The study focused on whether the remote monitoring program could reduce the differences in outcomes based on SES. Surprisingly, the results revealed no significant differences in outcomes between SES groups.
When accounting for potential confounding factors, the likelihood of death or transplant listing showed no significant variation among diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. In conclusion, the study suggests that this novel remote monitoring technology could help mitigate disparities in outcomes for infants with single-ventricle heart disease, irrespective of their socioeconomic background.
Scaling At-Home Care With Remote Patient Monitoring
Advanced care at home (ACAH), or hospital at home, allows remote patient monitoring for patients to receive hospital-level care from home. A study published in the American Journal of Managed Care assessed the feasibility of scaling an ACAH program within Kaiser Permanente, an integrated healthcare delivery system. The ACAH program, titled Kaiser Permanente at Home, was made available to patients requiring hospitalization from April 2020 to November 2021.
Over the course of the study, the average daily census of patients enrolled in the program was intentionally increased, starting at 7.2 and eventually reaching a peak of 16, representing 9% of the total hospital medicine service census. A subgroup analysis showed that remote patient monitoring patients admitted to the Kaiser Permanente at Home program were 64% less likely to experience delirium than those admitted to traditional inpatient hospital care. This highlights a benefit of at-home hospital-level care for this important patient outcome.
The authors conclude that ACAH can be scaled to create hospital capacity within an integrated health system. Further research with larger sample sizes is still needed to assess the impact on quality of care definitively. Scaling remote patient monitoring programs like ACAH can potentially increase access to care while improving patient outcomes.
If you are a chronic care, telehealth, RPM services, or software company member, book a consultation and free demo to learn more about leveraging Tenovi’s FDA-cleared remote patient monitoring devices and data aggregation solutions.
