Last Updated on September 08, 2022
Going to a hospital for vital care can be unpleasant and burdensome, as it is a stressful place, always crowded, and sufferers need to wait before care. The healthcare sector is always interested in new developments that can be used to improve patients’ care and quality of life.
Providing high-quality medical care requires close corporation with many entities and it is also an expensive and time-consuming process. Adding to that medical staff shortage, the ever-increasing aging population, and the growing number of patients with chronic diseases make the task more difficult.
Moreover, during consulting, there are lots of wires, tapes, and Velcro to hold sensors making it difficult and uncomfortable to move. Additionally, the number of tests that can be performed at a time remains limited.
The aim of medical providers is to reduce readmission, shorten hospital stays and improve outcomes. And to achieve that a solution is necessary to effectively monitor and engage high-risk cases. And the solution may lie in the ever-increasing devices in circulation.
Nowadays almost everybody has a mobile phone in their pocket and wearable devices that have some kind of sensor in them. These small wireless communication devices that peoples carry around every day is enabling remote patient monitoring (RPM).
Contents
What is remote patient monitoring?
RPM is a subset of telehealth that allows healthcare providers to monitor, analysed, and report patient conditions outside a hospital setting. Remote monitoring enables patients to engage and understand their health conditions.
Remote patient monitoring is a technology that facilitates the performance of medical acts through sensors and communication technologies. RPM makes it possible to analyze health data or patient issues remotely.
This telehealth service uses devices such as wearables and trackers to collect specific information on the care-receiver’s health. The data is sent to a practitioner for analysis which reduces outpatient visits as well as improves healthcare workflow.
Moreover, RPM allows doctors to interpret data collected by sensors through medical follow-up of a patient. And base on the information, practitioners can make decisions concerning care and treatment. All done remotely.
Why do we need remote patient monitoring?
Remote patient monitoring service helps doctors and nurses monitor their patients remotely, resulting in improved outcomes. It allows caregivers to view a customized dashboard of patient vital signs from anywhere.
This medical monitoring allows physicians to monitor patients remotely, with the use of sensors placed on their bodies or in the environment. It provides practitioners with real-time data on their status, including heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure all done remotely. And this brings on a lot of benefits such as:
- Collect real-time data
- Reduced wait time for physician feedback
- Improved patient comfort and compliance
- Reduced costs associated with patient care
- Improve access to healthcare
- Extent practitioner reach
- Improve quality of care
- Provide data-driven decision making
- Increase patient engagement
- Prevent unnecessary visits to hospitals
- Reduce readmission
- Facilitate practitioner jobs
- Reduce the risk of disease transmission
Sensors collect medical and other forms of health data from individuals in one location and transmit that information securely to healthcare providers for assessment and recommendations.
Ultimately, it saves hospitals time, money, and resources. It also gives care receivers a better understanding of how their lifestyle affects their health. Remote patient monitoring software is user-friendly and contains all of the necessary data points.
With this information, patients can draw conclusions based on trends. Using remote patient monitoring devices, clinicians can collect data more frequently than they would with in-office appointments. Often, rapid real-time information exchange can save lifes.
Furthermore, remote monitoring increases clinicians’ understanding of patients’ conditions which gives them better insight and allows them to provide better care. It also helps care receivers get the information they need when there is a matter.
The convenience of home health monitors makes sufferers feel more comfortable with self-management of their health. Unlike traditional monitoring equipment, most RPM systems are internet-connected thus reducing the amount of cables.
Remote monitoring of patients is also more affordable than in-person office visits. In-person office visits require patients to spend time traveling and waiting. Moreover, hospital admission fees can add up to thousands of dollars.
RPM is suitable for chronic diseases, post-operative patients, and the elderly. It also benefits people with limited access to healthcare. Data from healthtechmagazine show that RPM can:
- improve patient satisfaction by 25%
- cut costs of care by 17%
- improve medication compliance by 13%
- reduce emergency room visits by 25%
- reduce readmissions by 38%
The technology used for remote patient monitoring services allows healthcare providers to collect data about sufferers on regular basis. It allows doctors to diagnose a patient’s condition more quickly than with an in-office appointment which improves the quality of care.
Moreover, RPM fosters trust between health providers and patients. People can use remote patient monitoring devices to send vital information to a remote care provider at any time from the convenience of their home.
RPM also reduces hospitalization and helps doctors manage treatment and adherence remotely. Its software helps medical staff efficiently monitor patients through a secure web connection, while also providing the information the practitioner needs.
This system opens the door to new possibilities for clinical teams to assess the condition of sufferers without requiring a physical presence in the same room. Moreover, mobile phones have high-resolution cameras that practitioners can use to see real-time footage about patient health and issue.
When people are unwell or have questions, they can book an online appointment, where a practitioner can access current readings to provide advice. Doctors can enter patient notes, write prescriptions and add other data that pharmacists and specialists can easily access.
Remote monitoring allows healthcare teams to provide smooth routine checkups and give more face-to-face attention where it’s needed most. It enhances the ability of health providers to care for an increased volume of patients without being present in person.
Remote patient monitoring devices
Blood pressure monitor
Blood pressure monitor is a device that is used to calculate blood pressure and heart rate by measuring changes in artery motion. It is a cuff that is placed around the arm and is inflated to measure the pressure in the blood vessels. The cuff is then released and the pressure is recorded.
Using a bluetooth blood pressure cuff can send the data in real-time to the clinician for review. The American Heart Association research has shown that remote cardiac monitoring can greatly reduce patient blood pressure.
At-home blood pressure monitoring can assist with the management of many conditions and symptoms of hypertension and high blood pressure can be easily detected through regular data collection.
Day-to-day monitoring offers regular insight into the status of the heart as opposed to one point-in-time reading. Remote blood pressure monitoring allows practitioners to perform regular virtual treatment on high blood pressure/hypertension nursling.
Moreover, regular data collection can give more accurate information than one-time check-ups. And patients with hypertension or at risk of hypertension can keep tabs on their blood pressure and manage them over time.
ECG and Stethoscope
A stethoscope is a medical device that is used to listen to the heart and lungs. It is also used to measure heart rate and blood pressure. Electrocardiography (ECG or EKG) is a procedure used to measure the electrical activity of the heart. The test is usually performed while the person is resting.
The stethoscope captures heart and lung sounds while the ECG captures heart function. Smart detection systems like the Eko DUO can capture heart and lung sound virtually.
The digital stethoscope can self-monitor patients and send readings directly to a practitioner for clinical reviews which can enable early detection and more personalized care delivery. This can also reduce hospitalization or readmission following a hospital discharge.
Pulse oximeter
A pulse oximeter is a medical device that measures light wavelength to determine oxygen levels in the blood. It is often used to check a person’s pulse, and blood pressure, diagnose heart problems, and monitor a patient’s response to treatment.
The pulse oximeter can be deployed to help healthcare providers monitor changes in any individual lung function. It can gather useful information from people with chronic heart or lung issues.
Glucometer
A glucometer is a device that is used to measure blood sugar levels. It is a handheld device that can be used to estimate blood sugar levels from the sample that is taken. The patient places a small drop of blood on a test strip that is connected to a device that produces the blood glucose reading.
The reading is then sent in real-time to a practitioner to evaluate and provide a review. For someone with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, using a glucometer daily is essential. It is often used multiple times a day to keep tabs on their blood sugar.
Collecting data from glucometer regularly allows practitioners to understand factors (such as stress, illness, diet, and exercise) affecting the person’s blood sugar and diabetes symptoms. Blood glucose level is the most common remote patient monitoring application.
Practioner can capture data from remote blood glucometers to detect changes in glucose levels and alert the patient when there is a potential risk. The data also provide insight to guide the practitioner’s recommendation for dieting, exercising, and medications.
Thermometer
A thermometer is a device used to measure temperature. A thermometer provides body temperature and essential information for the next steps of care. A bluetooth thermometer can provide a fast and accurate picture of patient conditions like fever.
Fever is a key indicator for many conditions and symptoms. Using thermometers in-home monitoring can track patient recovery as well as signal providers when there is a symptom.
Smart scales
Smart scale uses sensors to detect the weight of the person being weighed, and then send the information to a smartphone app. The app tracks changes in weight over time, and practitioners can monitor those changes to ensure everything is correct, and intervene if needed.
It is essential that a practitioner can observe weight changes since weight gain can be a key indicator of different symptoms. Patients with obesity can use scales to enable self-management and motivate themselves to take responsibility and identify trends.
Spirometer
A spirometer is a medical device used to measure respiratory rate and lung function. A spirometer is inserted into the airway to measure the amount of air that is inhaled and exhaled. The spirometer is worn on the chest and uses an algorithm to calculate the respiratory rate.
Remote spirometry can monitor a patient’s lung conditions and send the data to a practitioner for virtual assessment. This can be useful for helping the care receivers better manage breathing issues.
Medical alert system
A medical alert system is a service that provides patients with a way to be notified in case of an emergency. If the sufferer has an implantable medical device, such as a pacemaker, a medical alert system can notify if something goes wrong. These devices can provide immediate intervention by alerting the wearer’ doctor, the nearest medical facility, or a family member.
Medication monitoring
Medication monitoring is the practice of monitoring a patient’s medication levels to identify potential side effects and potential interactions. It also helps guide the dosage of medications to be given to a sufferer.
Connected pill dispensers are now available to monitor patient medication intake as well as an alert when it’s the right time for intake. Intelligent dispensers can connect patients and providers to allow real-time communication.
The global smart medical device market was valued at around USD 25.7 billion in 2021. A CAGR increase of 10.9% is expected between the period of 2022-2028. The market value is expected to reach USD 47.8 billion by 2028.
Remote patient monitoring devices allow for a better and deeper understanding of the patient’s condition thus enabling better decision-making concerning treatment options. The technology reduces cost while prioritizing the comfort and convenience of care receivers and providers alike.
RPM also allows easy access to healthcare which can somehow reduce stress and anxiety for patients who previously had to overcome socio-economic obstacles to access treatment. And reducing in-person visit, appointment, and hospitalization, enable the sufferer to regain control of their life.
A recent survey of 485 American patients reveals that 96% are interested in sharing the health data collected from remote patient monitoring wearables with their medical provider to improve their health.
Moreover, the smartphone and the smartwatch that everybody is carrying around every day can help to track and monitor all movements. Designed with smart sensors, these connected wearables can measure, monitor, and analyze various health indicators.
Remote patient monitoring wearables
Medical facilities have to deal with a growing number of chronic illnesses, and they are often overwhelmed with appointments. Hence wearables can significantly cut down the number of appointments by simply tracking and responding to patient medical data in real-time.
RPM wearables enable healthcare providers to track patients’ steps, sleep, fall risk, and even heart rate. The provider can gain an overview of patients’ day-to-day routine, and when a problem arises they can know the root of the problem.
Based on the understanding of a patient’s daily activities, the provider can use the data to create treatment plans. Wearables are in the form of smartwatches as well as pacemakers, stickers, or patches that allow for continuous monitoring.
Wearable remote patient monitoring is becoming so powerful that it can also measure users’ emotional states, body fats, heart rate, hydration levels, and many more. Some applications even integrate into a wearable fitness monitor.
A research by Deloitte reveals that around 320 million consumer health and wellness wearable device will be shipped worldwide by the end of 2022 and by 2024 this number will reach 440 million. Moreover, it is revealed that globally there are more than 5 billion smartphone users.
The use of remote patient monitoring wearables has many potential uses. This technology can detect vital signs, such as blood pressure, temperature, and skin conductance, and can provide valuable clinical insight to healthcare professionals.
The importance of RPM wearables is increasingly recognized by researchers and clinicians. Consumer wearable devices, such as fitness trackers, can help physicians understand a patient’s activity levels and report outcomes.
By collecting data on patient activities, researchers can better understand how a disease develops and responds to treatment. In the clinical setting, RPM watch can be helpful for doctors to identify the most at-risk cases for specific treatments.
Moreover, wearable devices are often more discreet than traditional monitoring tools and they can be worn in a variety of different settings. They can also be used to monitor physical activity and sleep patterns.
One of the most popular wearable devices for remote monitoring is Fitbit. Fitbit devices are remote patient monitoring watch that tracks a variety of physical activity and sleep patterns.
Fitbit is a wearable device that tracks the amount of calories burned, the amount of exercise, and how many steps a user made. Fitbit is also a sleep tracker that records how long users were in bed.
Fitbit, biosticker, and Apple Watch are the most common trackers. They can track stress and glucose level, weight gain and loss, heart rate, and blood pressure and allows the practitioner to deliver customized care. And all this while the patient is in the comfort of their home.
In 2021, Fitbits has around 111 million registered users and in 2020 Apple Watch users surpass 100 million. The market for wearable medical devices was valued at USD 29.76 billion. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 26.4% from 2020 to 2027. The market is expected to reach USD 195.57 billion by 2027.
Hence, smart devices are beneficial for tracking and monitoring the health and well-being of patients. RPM technology monitors people to provide information from which it is possible to deduce their physiological state and behavior.
Internet of Things for remote patient monitoring
With the Internet of Things (IoT), a wide range of medical devices and equipment can be connected to a server or the cloud. Therefore, RPM technology can use real-time data from a variety of devices to enable better remote healthcare.
Remote patient monitoring is an important part of IoT for healthcare. It allows doctors and nurses to monitor patients remotely and can improve the efficiency of sufferer care and treatment. Healthcare IoT is a key component of data-driven decision-making.
Healthcare IoT provides hospitals, clinics, and other medical providers with real-time information about patients’ conditions and treatment. It also helps caregivers monitor patients’ health more effectively and ensure they receive the best possible care.
The market for medical IoT devices is expected to reach USD 543 billion by 2025. And the deployment of medical internet of things devices is expected to save the healthcare sector up to USD 63 billion by 2022.
In the future, medical IoT will play an important role in improving care and treatment. By connecting medical devices and sensors to the internet, healthcare providers can collect data on patient health and performance in real-time.
This information can help doctors make informed decisions about treatments, and help care receivers monitor their health more effectively. In addition to improving patient care, healthcare IoT will also help to reduce costs.
By monitoring patient health and performance in real-time, medical providers can detect when sufferers are experiencing complications early on. IoT is already having a big impact on our life as everything is becoming ‘smart’ nowadays. Its importance in healthcare cannot be overstated.
The internet of medical things (IoMT) is an emerging field of technology that uses the internet to connect devices and systems in medical facilities. IoMT allows providers to monitor and manage patient data, automate tasks and processes, and improve care.
IoMT devices can be used to monitor patients’ vital signs, track their medications, and collect data about their health conditions. Internet of Medical Things systems can also be used to send alerts when a sufferer’s condition changes.
One of the most important aspects of the internet of medical things is the ability to connect devices and sensors in order to collect data and monitor health. This data can then be used to improve patient care and outcomes.
The market size of the internet of medical things was valued at USD 39.3 billion in 2020. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 15.9% from 2021 to 2030. Hence the market size is expected to reach USD 172.4 billion by 2030.
We are seeing incredible advancements in the field of medical devices and healthcare, and the internet of medical things is only going to make these advances even more widespread and efficient.
Future of remote patient monitoring
The future of remote patient monitoring is now prevalent with the increased number of internet of things and smart devices. Smart devices can collect and transmit accurate patient data in real-time.
This data can help healthcare providers better identify problems and get professional support for specific treatments. RPM devices will allow doctors to spend more time diagnosing and treating patients, rather than running around the hospital.
Additionally, it will make caregiving facilities more sustainable, as remote patient monitoring services use far fewer resources. RPM devices will allow doctors to focus on more important tasks as there will be less paperwork and data will be readily available from the cloud.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning will be used to process data to seek patterns from them. On top of that edge computing will provide in-house computing resources whenever needed.
McKinsey and company reveal that technology-driven innovation in healthcare sectors will generate an annual value of USD 350 – 410 billion by 2025. These technology-driven innovations are:
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
- Blockchain
- Artificial Intelligence
- Big data analytics
- 3D Printing
- Robotics
- Targeted and Personalized Medicine
- Electroceuticals
- Connected and Cognitive devices
Artificial intelligence brings new possibilities to the field of RPM. For example, AI can make it easier to check a patient’s background during a consultation by adjusting questions based on answers.
Other features AI offers are medication reminders and recommended routine check-ups based on data from personal tracking data. Artificial intelligence can also process and analyze patient data faster with more accuracy and efficiency.
In the past, artificial intelligence has been used to help doctors diagnose and treat diseases. In the future, it will be used to help doctors make more informed decisions about patients’ treatments based on the data wearables have collected.
Artificial intelligence in healthcare was valued at USD 11.06 billion in 2021. Digitalization and the pandemic have pushed medical providers to depend more on digital technology. This is why the market for AI in healthcare is growing at a rapid pace. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 37% from 2022 to 2030, thus it will reach USD 187.95 billion by 2030.
According to research by Himss, healthcare providers are observing with great interest the evolution of artificial intelligence and machine learning for hospital applications.
Machine learning and AI will increase the accuracy of care delivery. According to the research, 80% of US health providers are planning to invest in digital health technology.
The sector is not just driven by AI, big data, and IoT, digital health analytics is also a major component of the technology. Digital health analytics is the process of analyzing health data to gain insight for better healthcare delivery and also improve patients’ experience.
Healthcare analytics will play a major role in the future as the market value is expected to reach USD 80.21 billion by 2028. Which represents a CAGR increase of 27.5% from 2022-2028.
Advancements in 5G networks will serve as the backbone of emerging technologies that will completely change the medical system and quality. 5G is also expected to help healthcare save up to USD 94 billion by 2030.
Moreover, remote patient monitoring will be a useful component for drug development also. Clinical trials require periodic office visits to assess the status of the patient. RPM devices have the potential to make trials more efficient and collect more reliable data.
The continuous information collected by RPM from trial participants is often more accurate than data collected during office visits or from questionnaires. Moreover, hospitals can compile all the data from a specific region and use AI to process the information to find health patterns and trends in that area.
Ultimately, remote patient monitoring services will be useful for preventative measures. By monitoring health data remotely, doctors can discover trends in the sufferer’s condition and intervene before the patient is even aware of it.
We are not far from when technology like robotic process automation takes over repetitive administrative tasks so that practitioners can dedicate more time to patients to deliver better care as well as increase their quality of life.
The global market for remote patient monitoring was estimated at USD 30.5 billion in 2021 and a CAGR growth of 12.5% is expected between 2022 to 2027. The market of RPM is expected to reach USD 62 billion by 2027.
If implemented properly, RPM can ease the communication gaps between patients and healthcare providers. And with advancements in virtual reality, this can further reduce communication gaps and care delivery.
Impact of remote patient monitoring
Advances in AI and IoT will enable greater use of real-time analytics to make diagnoses, respond quickly to emergencies, and share information. Intel is supporting remote patient monitoring technology that will adapt to meet a wider range of healthcare needs.
However, before practitioners and care receivers can experience the full benefits of remote patient monitoring technology, healthcare providers need to ensure they have a secure platform for sharing data.
While a growing body of evidence suggests that RPM devices can improve patient outcomes, providers are hesitant to adopt this technology because they want data to be actionable and not interfere with their workflow.
Moreover, data security is a priority in the healthcare industry. Healthcare organizations are a major target for cyberattacks because their networks contain a lot of valuable data. Hence, cybersecurity is extremely important.
Another challenge with RPM is connectivity. Continuous monitoring requires reliable and high-speed connectivity as interruptions in the network can affect the process and can have big consequences.
However, this roadblock is being rectified as most people have access to the internet and with the implementation of 5G, connectivity for RPM will no longer be a burden. Moreover, RPM devices need to collect a large amount of data to provide effective outcomes.
For this, wearables are an ideal solution. Wearables are becoming more and more powerful while becoming smaller and cheaper hence bridging the gap between short-term fitness wearables and long-term patient monitoring.
Wearables will enable usability and AI-assisted analysis to improve decision-making. In addition smartphones and tablets can also help healthcare facilities collect data. These devices have become increasingly affordable and people always carry them everywhere.
And base on Google search patterns and social media activities, medical facilities can get an idea of what is happening in the general population. The future of remote patient monitoring is bright but other obstacles need to be overcome before it can truly take off.
The healthcare system must ensure that the technology remains affordable and effective for patients and physicians alike. And the technology must be available for everyone and no one must be left behind.
Medical providers must also ensure that the technology is user-friendly and provides up-to-date statistics. And provide a high level of cybersecurity to prevent cyberattacks and increase trust.
The WHO (World Health Organization) has spoken extensively about modernizing health services citing studies that detail the use of these new technologies. These technologies can have a huge effect on the quality of care and the means to receive it. The real-time patient data analysis leads to faster response times which could save lives.
Many remote patient monitoring start-ups have been created in recent years and the current pandemic has only accelerated these developments. In China, the Ping An Good Doctor platform saw a 900% increase in new users in December 2019.
In Singapore, government subsidies have been extended for remote monitoring for the management of chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, schizophrenia due to lipid disorders, severe depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety.
Practitioners, healthcare providers, and patients have realized the convenience, level of quality, and innovation that RPM technology can add to healthcare delivery. In the future, home health monitoring will allow on a day-to-day basis an easier, faster, and less costly follow-up.
Easier planning and anticipation of patient care and medical needs can save lives that could not have been saved just a few years ago. The real-time information collected will help users make more informed decisions and tailor care accordingly. Hence the future of remote patient monitoring looks bright.
Final words
As remote patient monitoring obstacles become less daunting, the service will expand and improve the way patients are being cared. In the meantime, RPM will continue to evolve and impact the lives of doctors and care receivers alike.
RPM addresses some of the most pressing issues in the delivery of healthcare. It enhances care and provides a rapid response as well as puts professionals’ satisfaction at the forefront. Ultimately, remote patient monitoring devices can improve quality of care and allow clinicians to better understand patients’ health.
The pandemic has prompted the exploration of several new medical technologies to help a large number of patients and provide care to as many people as possible with limited resources.
With the pandemic, everything is being shifted online to reduce mobility and overcrowded areas. Moreover, people are increasingly using and more comfortable with technology to do a lot of things without the need to move.
Technology has also proven its ability to improve the delivery of healthcare as a whole. Adding to that the ever-increasing number of portable and wearable devices the possibilities are endless.
In addition, it can make healthcare easier to access, especially for patients who live in rural areas, have limited mobility, or have busy schedules. With RPM, a patient can see their doctor anytime and anywhere, based on their preferred time.
Remote monitoring of patient will create a more efficient healthcare workflow and is a valuable resource in times of crisis. This will allow more patients in remote areas to receive top-notch healthcare. So the benefits of remote patient monitoring will be felt for decades to come.
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