Can Remote Patient Monitoring Be the New Standard in Primary Care of Chronic Diseases, Post-COVID-19?

Abstract Background COVID-19 has placed unprecedented strain on healthcare providers, in particular, primary care services. GP practices have to effectively manage patients remotely preserving social distancing. We aim to assess an app-based remote patient monitoring solution in reducing the workload of a clinician. Primary care COVID patients in West London deemed medium risk where recruited into the virtual ward. Patients were monitored for 14 days by telephone or by both the Huma app and telephone. Information on number of phone calls, duration of phone calls and duration of time spent reviewing the app data recorded.Results The amount of time spent reviewing one patient on the telephone only arm of the study was 490 minutes, compared with 280 minutes spent reviewing one patient who was monitored via both the Huma app and telephone. Based on employed clinicians monitoring patients, this equates to a 0.04 reduction of full-time equivalent staffing I.e. for every 100 patients, it would require 4 less personal to remotely monitor them. There was no difference in mortality or adverse events between the two groups.Conclusion App-based remote patient monitoring clearly holds large economic benefit to COVID-19 patients. In wake of further waves or future pandemics, and even in routine care, app-based remote monitoring patients could free up vital resources in terms of clinical team’s time, allowing a better reallocation of services.

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Results from Telehealth

10.5772/intechopen.101183 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Malcolm Clarke

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Health Care ◽

Residential Care ◽

Home Health Care ◽

Clinical Setting ◽

Patient Monitoring ◽

Clinical Information ◽

Remote Patient Monitoring ◽

Wide Range ◽

Remote Patient

Telemedicine and telehealth have a wide range of definitions and understanding. Telehealth has been described as taking many forms and having many terms to describe its activities such as; home health care, telecare, tele-dermatology, tele-psychiatry, tele-radiology, telemonitoring, and remote patient monitoring. In general, the purpose of telehealth is to acquire information on a patient in one location, make that information available in a separate location, usually for the convenience of the clinician, and then use that information to provide management to a patient, who may be in a further location, through the mediation of a remote clinician, or directly to the patient. Typically this has taken the form of the patient being in their own home or at a clinical establishment remote from the hospital such as the district hospital, remote clinic, and primary care, with clinical information being collected and transferred using technology between locations. This chapter focuses on results from telehealth in the form of remote patient monitoring (RPM), in which data is collected from the patient whilst they are in their own home, or other non-clinical setting such as residential care.

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The effect of remote patient monitoring on the primary care clinic visit frequency among adults with type 2 diabetes

International Journal of Medical Informatics ◽

10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2020.104267 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 143 ◽

pp. 104267

Author(s):

Morgan Hampton Randall ◽

Zachary Merle Haulsee ◽

Jingwen Zhang ◽

Justin Marsden ◽

William Patrick Moran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

Primary Care ◽

Patient Monitoring ◽

Primary Care Clinic ◽

Clinic Visit ◽

Remote Patient Monitoring ◽

Care Clinic ◽

Visit Frequency ◽

Remote Patient

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Mobile Health in Remote Patient Monitoring for Chronic Diseases: Principles, Trends, and Challenges

Diagnostics ◽

10.3390/diagnostics11040607 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 607

Author(s):

Nora El-Rashidy ◽

Shaker El-Sappagh ◽

S. M. Riazul Islam ◽

Hazem M. El-Bakry ◽

Samir Abdelrazek

Keyword(s):

Chronic Diseases ◽

Systematic Reviews ◽

Patient Monitoring ◽

Wireless Body Area Network ◽

Healthcare Delivery ◽

Area Network ◽

Remote Patient Monitoring ◽

Remote Patient ◽

The Right ◽

Meta Analyses

Chronic diseases are becoming more widespread. Treatment and monitoring of these diseases require going to hospitals frequently, which increases the burdens of hospitals and patients. Presently, advancements in wearable sensors and communication protocol contribute to enriching the healthcare system in a way that will reshape healthcare services shortly. Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is the foremost of these advancements. RPM systems are based on the collection of patient vital signs extracted using invasive and noninvasive techniques, then sending them in real-time to physicians. These data may help physicians in taking the right decision at the right time. The main objective of this paper is to outline research directions on remote patient monitoring, explain the role of AI in building RPM systems, make an overview of the state of the art of RPM, its advantages, its challenges, and its probable future directions. For studying the literature, five databases have been chosen (i.e., science direct, IEEE-Explore, Springer, PubMed, and science.gov). We followed the (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) PRISMA, which is a standard methodology for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. A total of 56 articles are reviewed based on the combination of a set of selected search terms including RPM, data mining, clinical decision support system, electronic health record, cloud computing, internet of things, and wireless body area network. The result of this study approved the effectiveness of RPM in improving healthcare delivery, increase diagnosis speed, and reduce costs. To this end, we also present the chronic disease monitoring system as a case study to provide enhanced solutions for RPMs.

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A Primary Care Answer to a Pandemic: Keeping a Population of Patients Safe at Home through Chronic Care Management and Remote Patient Monitoring

American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine ◽

10.1177/1559827620935382 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 595-601

Author(s):

David Donohue

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Care Management ◽

Chronic Care ◽

Patient Monitoring ◽

Remote Patient Monitoring ◽

Chronic Care Management ◽

Care Managers ◽

Remote Patient ◽

Mental And Physical Health ◽

At Home

The pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) challenged primary care providers (PCPs) to continue to deliver care for their patients, while also remaining financially stable. Most practices have experienced declining revenue due to fewer in-person patient visits. To help offset this and to continue to provide safe patient care, practices have shifted toward using remote options. Chronic Care Management (CCM) and Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) are benefits available to Medicare fee-for-service patients, which allow a medical practice to deliver expanded care and generate much-needed revenue. These services can be delivered by clinical staff called care managers. A top health priority for most seniors is to effectively self-isolate to reduce risk of COVID-19, while maintaining mental and physical health. We developed a Safe at Home program, designed to be run by care managers through CCM and RPM, with the use of a remote monitoring technology. Safe at Home tracks signs and symptoms of COVID-19, mental and physical health, and lifestyle behaviors that can affect immune function. We project that this service can complement regular telehealth PCP visits and deliver population health monitoring services, while generating substantial revenue for the practice.

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A prospective observational real world feasibility study assessing the role of app-based remote patient monitoring in reducing primary care clinician workload during the COVID pandemic

BMC Family Practice ◽

10.1186/s12875-021-01594-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sachin Shailendra Shah ◽

Afsana Safa ◽

Kuldhir Johal ◽

Dillon Obika ◽

Sophie Valentine

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Patient Monitoring ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Routine Care ◽

Full Time ◽

Remote Patient Monitoring ◽

Full Time Equivalent ◽

Phone Calls ◽

Novel Coronavirus ◽

Remote Patient

Abstract Background The novel coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19) has placed unprecedented strain on healthcare providers, in particular, primary care services. General practitioners (GP) have to effectively manage patients remotely preserving social distancing. We aim to assess an app-based remote patient monitoring solution in reducing the workload of a clinician and reflect this as time-saved in an economic context. Primary care COVID patients in West London deemed medium risk were recruited into the virtual ward. Patients were monitored for 14 days by telephone or by both the Huma app and telephone. Information on number of phone calls, duration of phone calls and duration of time spent reviewing the app data was recorded. Results The amount of time spent reviewing one patient in the telephone only arm of the study was 490 min, compared with 280 min spent reviewing one patient who was monitored via both the Huma app and telephone. Based on employed clinicians monitoring patients, this equates to a 0.04 reduction of full-time equivalent staffing I.e. for every 100 patients, it would require 4 less personnel to remotely monitor them. There was no difference in mortality or adverse events between the two groups. Conclusion App-based remote patient monitoring potentially holds large economic benefit to COVID-19 patients. In wake of further waves or future pandemics, and even in routine care, app-based remote monitoring patients could free up vital resources in terms of clinical team’s time, allowing a better reallocation of services.

Download Full-text