How Remote Patient Monitoring is Transforming Healthcare?
Remote patient monitoring has had quite a journey in the last few years. From the humble beginnings of landline calls to devices with immediate wireless connectivity, the evolution of technology has hurtled medical care into unheard-of areas. The pandemic pushed many applications from the side-lines to mainstream roles. RPM, which is a part of telemedicine, has become a part of the medical new normal.
The Widening Application of Remote Patient Monitoring
Though the role of RPM in orthopaedics and mental health is evolving, at present it can be easily used to monitor weight, lung capacity, oxygen saturation in blood, BP, sugar levels, and pill tracker, among other things. One of the biggest cost guzzlers in healthcare happens to be monitoring chronic conditions. Patients suffering from chronic heart or kidney ailments must make frequent hospital visits and are therefore also exposed to the risk of complications associated with it.
Remote patient monitoring has eased the collection of data from chronic patients remotely, thereby easing the burden on hospital staff and reducing the cost for patients for hospital trips. The post-pandemic evolution is seeing its wider application covering more critical health sectors.
Remote Patient Monitoring Is Now Part of Standard Care Offerings
The desire to minimize physical care is pushing wider adoption of remote monitoring by hospitals. A McKinsey and Co survey reports that nearly 51% of the respondents were keen on using digital technology to track health information and share data with doctors. An Insider Intelligence review says that around 11.2 percent of the US population will use RPM by 2024 – registering a 28.2% growth from 2020. Remote patient monitoring services stand to gain from a greater commitment from patients to remain invested in their healthcare by becoming an integral part of the data collection process.
The Biggest Challenge in Effective Remote Patient Monitoring
One of the biggest challenges for effective remote patient monitoring is the patient’s adherence necessary to acquire clinical grade, real-time data. Wearable wrist-worn devices have wide consumer adoption without medical grade accuracy. The industry is moving towards further innovation in RPM technologies with a slew of start-ups offering innovation and improvement on wearable devices. For instance, medical patch devices are gaining better acceptance for unobtrusive, passive RPM. There are companies driving innovation in digital cognitive assessment of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
Data-Driven Care Plan
Medical professionals gain high-quality information about their patient’s lifestyles and can use these data points to devise accurate and successful care plans. By real-time tracking of changes in symptoms and pain over time, physicians shall be in a better position to assess the data and plan, accordingly, leading to greater patient satisfaction. They are aided by a host of healthcare BPO services which have moved in to provide enhanced patient experience.
The Surge in Decentralized Clinical Trials
There is increasing proclivity towards clinical trial disruptions using remote patient monitoring technology. During the pandemic, several companies asked their employees to work from home for continuity in drug development and research, and production. The trend of remote clinical trials has only seen an increase since then. There is also uptake in direct-to-patient drug delivery. The decentralized clinical trial has become one of the most noteworthy outcomes of the pandemic-driven application capable of new opportunities in the healthcare market.
The Conclusion
The advancement of technology in times to come shall see wider adoption of RPM in patient-centric healthcare delivery models. Future technology should provide accurate, authentic, and full patient visibility to people suffering from chronic conditions. Remote monitoring combined with artificial intelligence can reduce the chances of errors and bridge the communication gap between doctors and patients, filling a vital gap in the present healthcare setup.
