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Introduction
Remote patient monitoring is a subset of telehealth in which providers can monitor patient health outside the usual clinical environment. It uses wireless medical devices to measure vital signs and share them with providers remotely in real time. Information like blood pressure, heart rate, and glucose levels can be measured using devices and shared with providers without the need for in-person patient visits.
Remote patient monitoring or RPM has emerged as a promising solution to address the problems of access to healthcare, growing costs, and improving clinical outcomes. Let’s explore some of the ways in which remote patient monitoring solutions are impacting the landscape of care.
Benefits of Remote Patient Monitoring
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the benefits of using remote patient monitoring software. Since people could not leave their houses due to a fear of infection, RPM enabled providers to offer medical services without seeing patients in person. This kick-started the trend of telehealth and remote care which has been growing steadily ever since. Let’s examine the benefits of remote health monitoring:
Improved Access To Care
One of the most obvious advantages of using a remote patient monitoring system is the accessibility to care. People living in remote locations who often need to travel long distances for healthcare can now receive it in their homes. Remote patient monitoring devices can measure their vitals and transmit them in real-time to doctors in another city. This is extremely helpful not only for people living in rural locations but also for those who face mobility problems. As a result, more people can access specialist care and clinical monitoring without leaving their homes.
Better Management of Chronic Diseases
Patients suffering from diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart conditions need regular clinical observation and medication. Using remote patient monitoring solutions makes them measure their own vitals and share it with providers. This makes them more aware of their conditions and also encourages greater adherence to physician advice and medications. Doctors monitoring patients with chronic conditions continuously would be able to spot deviations in the vital signs sooner and take the necessary steps. Continuous observation coupled with proactive medical intervention results in a better management of chronic diseases.
Improved Patient Engagement
The use of remote patient monitoring software and devices makes people view their own health data regularly. This tends to make them more aware of their conditions and be more involved in their care journey. As a result, they are more likely to take proactive steps for their own wellness, take their physician’s advice more seriously, and follow a healthier lifestyle.
Lowered Cost
Remote monitoring services have shown to lower the costs associated with care. Since it avoids the need for in-person consultations or hospital admissions, the overall cost of providing medical services is lowered. Additionally, using a remote patient monitoring system provides continuous regular data on patients, allowing providers to spot potential diseases before they manifest. This enables a proactive approach to care, which not only reduces the overall costs but also improves the clinical outcomes.
The Future of Remote Patient Monitoring
Although the concept of telehealth and remote patient monitoring has existed for over a decade, it took a global pandemic for everyone to notice its benefits. What began as a necessity during a crisis took a life of its own and has been growing continuously ever since. It has been observed to offer convenient solutions for the twin problems of access to care and senior care. As a result, RPM has emerged as one of the most promising things in healthcare this decade.
Remote healthcare monitoring has been augmented by the sudden popularity of IoT-driven medical wearables. These devices have resulted in an explosion of patient data, which holds important insights about diseases and their management. In light of this, artificial intelligence-based analytics programs have been shown to help providers obtain these insights and identify patients who are at greater risk of diseases. As a result, they can take a proactive approach to care, instead of a reactive one, which will result in better outcomes for patients.
An additional advantage of remote health monitoring is the potential for personalized care. Different people are bound to react differently to the same treatment. However having vast quantities of patient data from RPM systems can help providers formulate personalized treatment plans to suit every patient’s needs. This could lower the chances of treatment errors or adverse reactions to medications, resulting in better care.
Conclusion
It took a pandemic for remote patient monitoring to go from being a concept in medical circles to becoming near-indispensable. The growth of IoT-based wearables coupled with the increase in the applications of AI has led to RPM becoming a mainstay in health care. From delivering care to remote locations, addressing the problem of senior care, and empowering providers with data-driven insights, RPM is without a doubt one of the most exciting things to watch out for in healthcare this decade.
