For health care providers – Remote patient monitoring (RPM)

The COVID-19 crisis is wreaking havoc on our health system, healthcare workers, and communities. Patients who rely on consistent care for and management of chronic conditions are increasingly finding themselves lacking access to their physicians for what just a few months ago were considered routine blood pressure or other vital measurement checkups. While traditional telehealth is a phenomenal resource, some of our more vulnerable patients require remote care solutions other than a video or phone call with their doctor. Enter remote patient monitoring (RPM).

Remote patient monitoring combines the continued necessity for quality patient care with the capability of mitigating infection risks for patients and healthcare workers. Reducing physical interaction has become crucial, and RPM allows providers to extend the barriers of patient care past the confines of a traditional office setting.

While the concept and practice of remote patient monitoring have been around for quite some time, it’s mostly been conducted by hospitals and larger health systems. These organizations have increasingly leaned on RPM for good reasons. Research has shown that RPM can greatly reduce the overall cost of healthcare through proactively decreasing the occurrence of emergency room visits as well as hospital admissions and readmissions.