From the January/February 2016 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

By: Dr. David Rhew

The Affordable Care Act has created a paradigm shift in the health care industry, moving toward a pay-for performance model that rewards physicians, hospitals, medical groups and other health care providers for achieving quality and efficiency measures. In other words, there is an incentive to keep patients out of the hospital. As a result, providers are progressively looking at how technology and connected care can not only help keep their patients healthy and at home, but also reduce hospital readmissions. Technology can also help providers stay connected and monitor their patients after they are discharged from the hospital to support relapse or non-compliance with treatment instructions.

One example of how this is working is through Remote patient monitoring (RPM), which allows patients using a mobile medical device to perform routine tests and send the test data to a health care professional in real time. Patient monitoring devices range from simple blood glucose meters to sophisticated intensive care unit (ICU) devices and implantable monitoring units. A standard Bluetooth or Internet-enabled monitoring kit allows patients to send back data to providers. These could include the following:
• Blood pressure monitor
• Digital scale
• EKG recorder
• Pulse oximeter
• Tablet

The need to monitor the aging and chronically ill population, combined with the growing trend that rewards patient self-advocacy and engagement, is spurring the advancement of mobility and sensor technology to enhance RPM.

Elderly care
More than 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day, which means increasing ER visits, hospitalizations and readmissions are driving up costs. Using technology to record data allows providers to monitor patients in the environment where they are spending the majority of their time, which is in the home.

The home is also the primary location where medical incidents are taking place, such as trips, falls, choking and loss of consciousness. Monitoring technology that can be quickly accessed by patients, caregivers and home health aides enables critical information, such as a patient’s vital signs, physical and mental state, eating patterns and medication adherence, to be recorded and shared with all members of the patient’s care team. The ability to filter that information into alerts and notifications, based on preset parameters, makes timely interventions possible.

Berg Insight estimates that the number of patients using connected home medical monitoring devices will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 44.4 percent to reach 19.1 million by 2018. As such, there is a strong trend to incorporate more connectivity in medical devices, to enable new monitoring services that provide enhanced patient outcomes. Implantable cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices are the largest segment, representing 65 percent of all remotely monitored patients. Sleep therapy has emerged as the second-largest market, accounting for 18 percent of all connections in 2013. Connectivity is also gaining momentum in several other device categories, such as glucose and air flow monitoring.

January/February 2016 Magazine

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