Use Cases of RPM Defined (2) - Acute Case Management: post-procedure; medical complications; medication changes
Welcome to the newest post in our series covering use cases for remote patient monitoring (RPM). Previously we discussed use case 1: chronic conditions that are prone to exacerbations. This post covers use case 2: acute case management through home care.
Continuing efforts to shift care from inpatient to outpatient settings reinforce the value of RPM at home. Many conditions that used to be monitored during a hospital stay are now monitored outside the hospital, in particular in the patient’s home.
Though financial analysis by insurance companies and hospitals may demonstrate cost-savings by keeping patients with certain conditions at home instead of in the hospital, the best quality outcomes in these scenarios may be only achieved with closer in-home biometric monitoring.
Additionally, RPM supports not only patients who can’t rely on home health expertise or the support of friends and family; it provides respite and confidence for care-givers.
Examples of such cases in which people could benefit from remote monitoring include:
Patients with underlying chronic disease who undergo surgical or non-invasive procedures but have minimal physical capacity to compensate for a decline in their physical condition. Patients could be monitored for a period around the procedure more closely, offering the potential to catch declines in their conditions before significant clinical complications develop.
Patients with underlying pulmonary, cardiac, or renal disease that experience complications such as pneumonia, pleural effusions, or pneumothoraces.
Patients with underlying chronic disease who need to have a critical medication changed that may have an effect on their biometric parameters.
Patients with underlying cardiac, pulmonary, or renal disease who get COVID or long COVID (to be discussed more in the fifth part of this series).
Patients with immunocompromised conditions who would benefit from being cared for outside of the hospital where, in most cases, there is decreased exposure to infectious pathogens.
These are just a few of many conditions. The lists will expand as more conditions are cared for on an outpatient basis.
We’d also like to highlight another significant point: remote patient monitoring gives us a chance to ensure better treatment equity. Recent technology advances, especially with respect to data transmission, mean all patients can be monitored well when they are being monitored outside of the home.
Please check back for our next post in this series, use case 3.
Kimberly Gandy, Jos Domen, Mary Topping
Kimberly Gandy, MD, PhD is a Northwestern/Stanford/Duke-trained physician-scientist with over 25 years of experience at the intersection of science, medicine, and technology.
Jos Domen, PhD is a University of Amsterdam and Stanford-trained cell biologist and immunologist who has run laboratories at Duke and elsewhere and has published extensively in the scientific literature.
Mary Topping, MBA has 15 years of operational and strategic experience in payer and provider settings, including Kaiser Permanente. She’s designed and implemented Medicare insurance products, improved revenue cycle processes, built business cases, and facilitated team innovation in care delivery.
*This is the third in our series of articles on the Use Cases of RPM. Please take a look and join in the discussion around this emerging field. hashtag#RPM hashtag#Remotepatientmonitoring hashtag#virtualcare hashtag#homecareservices hashtag#homecare