As the technology and knowledge within the healthcare space continue to evolve, healthcare professionals are more capable of offering high quality care to their patients. Now more than ever, patients are receiving some of the best care in the history of healthcare. A large reason for such high-quality care comes from newly established advanced care methods such as telemedicine. Considering the need for high quality care, combined with the lack of available space in most hospitals due to COVID-19, telemedicine has become more important than ever, specifically remote patient monitoring.
Though remote patient monitoring has been around for some time, its uses had been limited up until a few years ago. Now it has become a primary care method for patients around the world. Through the use of advanced visual technology, healthcare professionals can keep up with their patient’s health despite not being present for an appointment at their primary care facility. Through connected technological devices, a patient’s most important health elements are tracked and sent back to their health care provider. Professionals can then use the data to diagnose if necessary and store it within the primary care location’s electronic health records where they can be referenced with ease.
If you were wondering how limited this method of care is, it’s important to consider just how many devices are supported. Blood pressure cuffs, blood glucose monitors, spirometers, scales and many more are all supported by primary care facilities. With more devices at their disposal, patients feel more comfortable than ever that those professionals taking care of them are getting all the data they need.
As hospitalization rates surrounding COVID-19 continue to rise, many facilities are leaning more heavily into remote patient monitoring. As the demand for quality care skyrockets, this innovation allows health care professionals to be able provide help to everyone in need. Even those unimpacted by the pandemic, for example those with chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease, still require full-time monitoring and plenty of doctor’s visits. Remote patient monitoring limits the time these patients have to allot for these visits, all while remaining in the best of health through the care of these healthcare professionals.
Nothing has staying power within the healthcare industry unless it’s successful, which is why remote patient monitoring has proven its here to stay. As recent research would point out, remote patient monitoring is actually quite effective. Especially for patients who have high blood pressure and asthma. High blood pressure patients saw decreases in their blood pressure while being remotely monitored. Asthma patients saw less breakouts on average when being cared for under remote patient monitoring, including less of a need for rescue medications as well.
Perhaps most important of all is that insurance companies have adjusted their policy offerings to include coverage for remote patient monitoring. With more and more physicians experiencing burnout as a result of COVID-19, any amount of respite can make all the difference in the patients they continue to bravely serve each day. Remote patient monitoring is capable of offering this respite, not only for physicians, but also for patients.
Interested in learning more about how remote patient monitoring has taken the healthcare industry by storm? Be sure to take a minute and check out the infographic featured alongside this post for more information. Courtesy of Pivot Point Consulting.
