Every individual deserves the best of healthcare – from quick and accurate diagnoses to continued health monitoring and timely health insights. Remote patient monitoring has facilitated this, along with enhanced healthcare, that includes steadfast assessment features and remote access to most healthcare services. It has enabled a quick diagnosis of chronic conditions, definitive preventive measures to tackle them, and a reduced cost in overall long-term healthcare expenses. However, there is still plenty of scope to explore the entire potential of remote monitoring. For instance, a large area around whether remote patient monitoring can improve post-surgical care and recovery is still untapped.

A patient’s surgery can be daunting and post-surgery recovery can be overwhelming. As a patient, you will need to remember the long list of post-discharge medications and your medical practitioner’s verbal instructions to ensure effective aftercare. An improper post-discharge recovery can lead to severe post-surgical complications and even readmissions. Remote patient monitoring has proven to alleviate the patient’s stress around post-surgery recovery care by offering reliable features. Some of them include increased communication between the medical practitioner and patient, automated reminders, cautionary alerts based on constant monitoring, and effective at-home care without additional readmissions. Studies have proven the efficiency of remote patient monitoring in post-surgical care and the technology will continue to show steady growth.

What research indicates…

Post-operative remote care is still under scrutiny and a subject of scholastic research. However, most of the fact-finding has shown positive results. 

• A study was conducted by a group of healthcare professionals to test the efficiency of post-discharge after surgery virtual care with Remote Automated Monitoring (RAM). The results were promising with a higher detection rate for drug errors.
• Research published in the National Library of Medicine showed a reduction in the number of emergency department visits and readmissions in post-surgery patients, along with an improved quality of life.
• The National Library of Medicine also published a study on post-operative care in cardiac patients who underwent monitoring using remote devices. The primary benefit of the remote monitoring system was that many hospital readmissions were avoided, saving patients additional costs. This was only possible due to the accurate measurements of vital parameters and quick responses to the hospital application requests. Moreover, about 6.1% of serious medical complications were averted due to an early diagnosis by remote devices.

Benefits of remote patient monitoring for post-surgical care and recovery

These studies offer concrete proof of the reliability of remote monitoring systems and wearable devices in efficiently managing post-operative care. Patients can now avoid the excess hospital charges by remaining at home and avoiding readmissions. The telemedicine system promises to deliver the following post-operative care features to every individual patient:

• Constant communication with their medical practitioner
  The pandemic proved how crucial alternate means of communication were, especially in the healthcare sector. The ability to stay in touch with your doctor or nurse, as and when the need arises, can be a life-saver. It saves crucial time that can be lost in transportation and is accessible to patients even in the more remote areas. Instead of piling the patient with post-surgery instruction booklets, the doctors can guide them remotely in a planned manner. Moreover, they can be easily notified of any unforeseen changes or side effects during recovery.
• Constant monitoring
  The remote patient monitoring system comes equipped with wearable devices and other tools to measure vitals that can enable constant monitoring. The devices can track patient compliance, symptoms, and recovery progress by assessing temperature, pain levels, incision photos, etc. They can then transmit this data to the healthcare practitioner to encourage quick interventions in case of an emergency. This can save time that would be wasted on transportation and in the waiting rooms of clinics and hospitals.

• Self-care alerts for patients
  The remote devices can also be programmed to offer self-care guidance and automated workflows that rely on AI. For instance, the device can offer periodic reminders to take medications, change the dressing, or provide first-aid solutions to minor emergencies. 

Post-operative remote monitoring has grown exponentially during the pandemic, due to the incessant demand for no-contact care. At UCLA, patients who have undergone heart surgery can benefit from their Cardiac Telehealth Program. The program offers constant monitoring and instant relaying of crucial health data to the medical staff. Apart from that, the patient can electronically send daily recovery updates, pictures of the incision site, and other important data such as weight, height, heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels using the tools provided with the program kit.

According to statistics, 88% of patients from a US target group did opt for remote healthcare in 2021 and around 4% were even willing to switch doctors for this. Patients want the best care that they can receive and remote patient monitoring offers this at a reduced cost in the long term. Being connected to your healthcare service providers and digitally tracking your vitals can really help mitigate post-surgery distress, especially for patients who live by themselves. hiltonbet güncel

Read more about the top healthcare technology trends in 2022.

Remote or wearable patient monitoring devices have revolutionized healthcare, enhancing the quality of people’s lives. Whether it is the tracking of steps, counting calories burned, or sending emergency distress signals to the closest healthcare facilities, these devices can do it all. Remote patient monitoring has shown significant improvements in immediate and effective patient care by ensuring constant connectivity between patients and physicians. Moreover, this healthcare system has evolved over time to provide improved outcomes in patient monitoring at reduced costs.

The digitization of healthcare, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has really surprised us with some smart healthcare. Statistics show that at least 45 million US patients are currently relying on remote patient monitoring as of 2022 and the number could touch 80 million by 2025. The technology is still nascent and has a long way to go. Meanwhile, here are some facts about wearable medical devices and remote patient monitoring that may surprise you:

Prediction and prevention of certain conditions

According to a survey by the CDC, the US currently spends around $3.5 trillion on treating chronic and mental health conditions. In the US, 1 out of 3 deaths every year are due to heart diseases and stroke, more than 34 million people are living with diabetes and $50 billion is spent annually on mitigating chronic lung issues. Remote patient monitoring can help predict certain health conditions such as diabetes and eventually prevent them through valuable feedback and timely inputs. This is backed up by research conducted by KLAS that surveyed 25 healthcare organizations. Of these, 38% reported a reduction in admissions related to chronic conditions.

One example of preventative monitoring is a wrist device that can prevent nausea and pregnancy-related morning sickness. The FDA-cleared device performs this function through effective neuromodulation. Another project under work is trying to create embedded breast patches to aid in the quick detection of breast cancer through breast tissue monitoring. 

It can easily transmit data over the internet

This is not a biggie, but a really fascinating insight into how the remote patient monitoring technology really works. Wearable devices can be tweaked as per the individual patient’s needs and conditions to monitor specific data. This data is then compiled and a summary is sent to medical professionals and even off-site monitoring centers, that then offer quick recommendations or solutions. This method of data transmission can make healthcare so much more accessible. According to statistics, 88% of patients from a US target group did opt for remote healthcare in 2021 and around 4% are even willing to switch doctors for this.

Efficiently track your blood sugar levels

If you were one to believe that wearable and remote patient monitoring devices could be used just to count your steps and blood pressure, this one is for you. The devices can effectively help you manage diabetes by constantly monitoring your blood sugar levels and updating you with any changes. Moreover, it can also track medication effects, progress on treatment goals, and add suggestions for follow-up appointments. Apart from this, remote monitoring can further be tweaked with devices that test for anticoagulation, perform an ECG, monitor maternity and pediatric care, check blood oxygen levels and even track weight.

Mental Health tracking

Mental health care is still largely sidelined and inaccessible in the US. About 19.8% of adults and 15% of adolescents in the US reported having mental health conditions between 2021 and 2022.  About 60% of the youth and 56% of adults did not receive any medical treatment Over time, the number of adults experiencing suicidal thoughts (about 5%) or death by suicide has also been on the rise. Wearable devices can effectively monitor extreme weight loss/gain, frequent irregularities in heartbeat, and motion tracking to detect psychomotor agitation and retardation to effectively predict mental well-being. According to experts, these are some of the most crucial indicators of mental distress and mental health conditions ranging from anxiety and depression to PTSD, bipolar disorder, and even schizophrenia. 

The first RPM was in space

Remote patient monitoring took birth somewhere in the 19th century when physicians began conversing and consulting on the phone. Over time, x-rays were being sent on the wire, neurological exams began being electronically transmitted, and psychiatric consultations were sent through pay-per-view TV. The first patient to be monitored remotely however was Alan Shepherd, the first American in space. In 1961, Shepherd’s vitals were being monitored through an EKG, respiratory sensors, and thermometers. Today, the technology has grown to monitor patients for all kinds of conditions from the comfort of their homes.

The cost of RPM

According to research,  the global RPM systems market is projected to be worth over $1.7 billion by 2027. That is a whopping 128% increment from the market’s current statistics. However, despite such a high valuation, remote patient monitoring systems continue to remain cost-effective. Reduction in the cost of commute and a decrease in the number of hospital readmissions can make healthcare much more feasible. Moreover, with effective monitoring, the time required for physicians to make accurate diagnoses also reduces. The university medical center in  Mississippi implemented the Mississippi Diabetes Telehealth Network. In the first year of its implementation, the cost savings were estimated to be $339,184 per patient. 

Telemedicine and remote patient monitoring systems still have a long way to go. However, the current progress is indicative of how far it has come and how much easier it would make healthcare for everyone. That said, patients and physicians need to be clear on their goals and how they can achieve them since one can never be entirely dependent on RPM, yet. 

Read about the top healthcare technology trends in 2022 on our blog.

 

Wearable technology is changing the way people monitor and manage their health. Devices like smartwatches, medical bracelets, and downloadable medical apps are now used for a myriad of reasons – from clinical trials to managing a patients’ chronic condition.

Wearables connect patients with healthcare providers

Wearable devices have become ubiquitous, and appear to be revolutionary in the administration of healthcare. These wearables include small, sleek wristbands (such as Apple Watch and FitBit) to accelerometers, gyroscopes and wearable cameras. They expand the potential of data collection and can record much more than just heart rate and blood pressure data.

These devices share data with healthcare providers, such as doctors and care nurses, allowing them to increase their efficiency, improve quality of care and improve patient outcomes. When wearable technology is integrated with a patient’s life as well as with their medical history and family health records, the data collected greatly helps in getting an accurate diagnosis. This further assists in writing a prescription that’s tailored to an individual’s condition.

 What are some wearable devices in healthcare?

The future of wearables shows no sign of slowing down as the demand for patients to monitor their own health is increasing. Current examples of wearables in healthcare include:

• Wearable fitness trackers – such as wristbands equipped with sensors to track patients’ vitals.
• Smart Health Watches – that allow users to perform tasks they would normally do on their phones – such as making calls and sending messages, while offering some health-tracking benefits.
• Wearable ECG Monitors – can track pace, distance, elevation as well as walking, running, biking etc. They measure an electrocardiogram and send readings to the patients’ doctor.
• Wearable Blood Pressure Monitor – may look like a typical watch, but can measure blood pressure and track daily activity.
• Biosensors – are self-adhesive patches that allow patients to move around, while collecting data on their movement – such as temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate.

 Benefits of wearable devices in healthcare

• Health Monitoring – From your heart rate to sleep patterns, wearables come in handy to keep your health in check and to monitor health-related goals. Individuals use them to keep track of their general wellness, to follow a diet, as well as to remember to take medication on time.

 

• Helps Manage Chronic illnesses – Being technologically advanced and relatively affordable, wearables have been extremely handy to monitor conditions like Asthma, Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis and Hemophilia. They empower patients to monitor and subsequently take control of their healthcare, minimizing the need for daily or weekly checkups.

 

• Boosts Mental Health and Physical Fitness – By making patients feel more aware of themselves and their daily activities, they provide a sense of achievement and instant feedback. Data from wearable devices can be used to create graphs so that one can see progress towards one’s goals.

 

• Future Applications – Today, wearables are used for patient monitoring and disease management, however their potential as a low cost means to improve the quality of patient care is immense. They can be integrated with electronic medical records (EMRs) to provide personalized preventable strategies and can provide information to the healthcare provider to spot warning signs before a serious event unfolds. They can help researchers learn about how various factors affect people’s lives and can therefore identify which patients are at-risk for developing certain chronic conditions.

 Mobile healthcare is growing in popularity

 In terms of mobile healthcare, patients download health apps on their mobile phones and use the various features of the app to keep track of health attributes. The Acuma Health app can be easily downloaded by patients to track their steps, sleep, log bleeds, record areas in their body where they are experiencing pain, etc. For patients with Epilepsy or a seizure disorder, the Inspyre by SmartMonitor can be downloaded on an Apple Watch or a Samsung watch to detect abnormal shaking movements and instantly alert the user’s contacts while also recording the data from the event for later review. By utilizing patient-fed information on apps, healthcare providers have a surveillance system with which they can stay up to date with patients on a real-time basis, allowing them to prevent, manage and treat diseases with ease.

The pandemic also accelerated the adoption of ‘remote care’ and, along with telehealth and digital check-ups, healthcare wearables have been helping healthcare providers monitor and manage patient progress (including physical, physiological, and biochemical parameters) from a distance.

 What’s at stake when implementing wearables?

Healthcare organizations can effectively implement wearables, but the first step involves communicating with patients and staff to stress on the shared objective of using them so as to avoid the many pitfalls of remote patient monitoring.

Before beginning to use healthcare devices, organizations need to assess potential risks – including authorization issues – and factor in effective defenses such as multi-factor authentication. Providers must also prepare to identify and remediate threats, as healthcare data can be prone to theft and breaches. Additionally, it is important to meet patient expectations around wearables and privacy, and incident recovery must be transparent with measures to reduce ongoing risk.

 What does the future hold?

With wearable healthcare technology surging, it encourages insurers, health providers and companies to take advantage of the benefits that these monitoring devices offer. Insurers can control the rising cost per patient by using wearables to increase the customer’s life value. The incentive for consumers is a reduction in hospital readmissions due to poorly managed personal health, and companies are seeing benefits in offering wearable health technology to employees by way of a healthier corporate culture and less turnover – 18%, as compared to 29%, according to Business Insider Intelligence.

To know more about how AI driven healthcare data management impacts the future of healthcare, head over to our blog. You can also follow us on Linkedin and Twitter for updates.

Adverse Drug Reactions vs. Adverse Drug Events – Detect and Avoid for Patient Safety

We are experiencing a health craze. Everybody is becoming health conscious and there is an abundance of herbs, supplements, lotions, etc. that people are using in their quest to rid themselves of, and prevent, ailments.

In addition, there are numerous prescription medications (almost 6,800) and countless over-the-counter drugs available in the US market. The use of so many substances in health care opens the door to possible interactions between substances, resulting in medication adverse effects. In the clinical space, terms such as adverse drug events (ADEs) and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are used to describe some of the possible medication adverse effects that can result from drug use. But does the average person understand the meaning of these terms?

An adverse drug event (ADE) is defined as “an injury resulting from medical intervention related to a drug.” An ADE results from harms caused directly by the drug itself and include medication errors, ADRs, overdoses, and allergic reactions. An ADR, on the other hand, is a harmful and unintended response to a drug at normal doses and during normal use.

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, has named ADE prevention as an important patient safety priority in its National Action Plan for Adverse Drug Event Reporting. It noted that ADEs accounted for an estimated one-third of hospital adverse events and approximately 280,000 hospital admissions annually. The ADE Action Plan was established to coordinate multiple stakeholders and align Federal efforts in identifying common, preventable, and measurable ADEs that may result in significant patient harm. The goal is to jointly work towards reducing patient harm from these specific identified ADEs nationally.

Three types of ADEs were selected as the high-priority targets of the ADE Action Plan as they were identified as being common, clinically significant, preventable, and measurable. These are:

• Anticoagulants: primary ADE of concern – bleeding
• Diabetes agents: primary ADE of concern – hypoglycemia
• Opioids: primary ADE of concern – accidental overdoses/over-sedation/respiratory depression

The World Health Organization lists has reported that as many as 4 in 10 patients globally are harmed in primary and outpatient health care. Up to 80% of harm is preventable. The most detrimental errors are related to diagnosis, prescription and the use of medicines. As such, healthcare organizations are urged to utilize the ADE Action Plan and implement strategies to prevent medication adverse effects, especially from the three priority types of ADEs identified. Healthcare data management and healthcare technology can play a major role in this regard, and those organizations that proactively use healthcare technology to detect ADEs will be a step ahead in preventing them. Some ways in which healthcare data management and healthcare technology can be used in ADE detection and prevention include:

• Electronic exchange of health information, such as laboratory results and care (e.g., discharge) summaries. This can help to improve communication among the care team as a patient passes from one team to the next.
• Interoperability between laboratory and pharmacy systems to help prevent medication errors and medication adverse effects.
• Utilize electronic health records (EHRs) and patient engagement tools to provide patient-specific data that can inform appropriate clinical decisions by providers. EHRs and patient engagement tools can also provide clinical reminders and templates to prompt and facilitate recommended clinical practices. This could result in improvements in assessment, documentation, and collaborative treatment planning for patient risk factors and aberrant behaviors.
• Leverage EHR Meaningful Use requirements by incorporating Quality Measures specific to the three types of ADEs identified in the ADE Action Plan.

ADEs can also be prevented by improving patient compliance with their medication regimen. Incorporating remote monitoring solutions such as automated medication dispensers with reminders can improve patient compliance and also prevent potential overdoses especially in seniors with memory problems.

Patient safety is a priority for all healthcare organizations and medication adverse effects are a serious threat to this. By proactively incorporating healthcare technology to detect and avoid ADEs, organizations can increasingly prevent them and improve patient safety. Acuma Health can show you how to utilize technology for proactive prevention of medication adverse effects and improved patient safety.