How does remote patient monitoring (RPM) impact patient outcomes? Does it actually help anyone besides the clinical staff and administrators? Those are some good questions. And as much as we wish those answers were more obvious, they aren’t.
Because of COVID-19, which sent hospital systems scrambling to create remote care systems, many players flooded the space. Tech companies saw an opportunity and jumped in, not realizing that healthcare tech is a maze of complexities that requires careful navigation, not just brute force.
Value propositions of companies trying to be an actual solution got fuzzy, and now, people have their doubts. Very fair. But, thankfully, members of this space know for a fact that we are helping. There is proof.
More and more RPM is helping overworked care teams reach patients they otherwise would never have the capacity for. They can access data from remote monitoring devices in the home and pull out accurate data that supports every aspect of the patient experience and well-being.
But how do we know? Is it true, or is it just the result of cleverly written studies funded by the industry?
Let’s find out.
In this post, we cover:
Remote patient monitoring, which is sometimes called remote physiologic monitoring, is the practice of using devices to record health data outside of a healthcare facility. Some RPM companies have cellular devices that automatically transmit the patient’s data to their care team’s EHR, and others collect data over time that must be manually reported or transferred via phone call or Bluetooth.
As technology improves, so too does remote patient monitoring. Because of that, there is a growing pile of benefits for using the practice—accurate data collection, improved access to care, and lowered cost of care per patient, to name a few.
But by far, the most important and exciting benefit of RPM is the positive impact it’s having on patient health outcomes.
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An article in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine discussed measuring outcomes in healthcare as a way to create a standard of care and a foolproof form of documentation.
“As a Mayo Clinic cardiac surgeon stated: ‘All 5 of us are very good at what we do, but we all do it differently. At least 4 of us must be doing it wrong.’ It has been documented that physicians can be overly optimistic about their ability to perform procedures. This phenomenon has been described as 'macro uncertainty, micro certainty,' in which physicians and nurses are overconfident in the value of their treatment for a particular patient (micro‐certainty) even in the absence of a general consensus as to which procedure is more clinically effective (macro‐uncertainty).”
The article goes on to say that “a psychological bias exists for clinicians to perform more aggressive treatment.” And when the patient’s health improves, the clinician is given all the glory. But if there is a decline, the provider can say “I did everything I could.”
The development and maintenance of a standard have allowed human healthcare to make tremendous strides and improvements. But we’ve only been able to do that by collecting metrics wherever possible, such as:
These make up “patient outcomes.” And they matter because faith, pride, and perspective are collectively not enough to base systematic or widespread decisions on. (This is especially true for FQHCs and RHCs.) Improving outcomes is the most important goal in patient care.
Here at Accuhealth, we like data. For our clients, we’ve seen the following improvements:
Remote patient monitoring participants are “sticky” because once they start using it, they rarely stop. It’s too helpful, accurate, and convenient for them to justify leaving.
For obvious reasons, patient participants really like using remote patient monitoring. People are usually weary of healthcare because while it cares for you, it also requires a lot from you. Going to an appointment is never as simple, straightforward, or quick as you hope for.
However, remote patient monitoring allows for data collection in a more comfortable and forgiving place for their schedules, not the clinics. That general feeling is emphasized in a study examining how patients viewed RPM. Participants were asked to rank RPM by what they valued about it most:
In addition, there was a study specifically charting patient satisfaction, which stated:
“This multisite, multiregional RPM program has become a reliable health care delivery model for the management of acute and chronic conditions outside hospitals and clinics. Program participants reported an excellent overall experience and a high level of satisfaction in managing their health from the comfort of their home environment.”
And just to be sure, we asked Accuhealth participants. Among hundreds of responses include:
“One-on-one care.”
“The staff [at Accuhealth] is very helpful and patient. They ask simple questions that you can relate to and care about your needs.”
“They never fail to contact me if the readings are outside of the parameters my doctor set.”
“You help me with the right thing to do for me to get better.”
“Very reliable and helpful service know what they doing and doesn't take long too answer or help.”
“I loved taking my BP everyday knowing if someone wasn't right I'd get a phone call letting me know if something was wrong.. Like when my heart rate dropped really low I felt it was a lifesaver.”
“I like if I miss a day that I get a reminder, it is great to have that convenience.”
“Being able to call 24/7 which is nice.”
“I enjoy the blood pressure print outs. I can compare them to see if I am trending in the right direction. I love the graphs!”
Improving patient outcomes is always our goal. And given these results, we’ve been successful, but there is always room for improving our performance and our results. How does that work? How do you improve patient outcomes?
It’s well-known that a good, positive, and enjoyable workplace leads to better performance. That applies to businesses and clinics alike. Remote patient monitoring helps too by easing the burden your clinical and administrative teams carry.
Make sure that patients can see what is happening, understand what they are waiting for, and know the path forward. Usually, that can be done by increasing the amount of connections between your team and your patients.
This also improves patient engagement, which supports their care plans and outcomes.
Remote patient monitoring can fill a lot of the gaps created by appointments being spread over weeks and months. It can also help by maintaining a level of care after they are discharged.
“I like if I miss a day that I get a reminder, it is great to have that convenience.”
When people feel supported, they can reach goals that might have felt impossible before. The same goes for your patients. Giving them timely reminders, assistance, and resources will help them improve their health outcomes (which feels amazing), but it also helps every aspect of their care teams.
When our patients do better, value-based care isn’t just a cool idea. It becomes a reality.
Remote patient monitoring became popular during a time of mass distress. Now, in hindsight, we can see how impactful that change was on the future of healthcare.
Now, we know that RPM can make a difference. It can:
There will come a day when using remote care solutions becomes the standard, and we aren’t far off.
You can book a demo here to learn about remote patient monitoring as a solution for your clinic, health system, or FQHC.
Accuhealth is proud to feature content from industry-leading experts that contribute in-depth knowledge of Remote Patient Monitoring and Telehealth subject matter to our blog.
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