RPM Is A Proven Winner

March 7, 2016 by InTouch Health

How well does Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) perform when it comes to increasing access, lowering costs and improving quality of care? Extremely well, according to last year’s joint research project conducted by the University of Michigan and University of Kentucky.

Lead researcher at the University of Michigan, Rashid Bashshur, Ph.D., and his associates narrowed the focus of the study to three chronic diseases: congestive heart failure, COPD, and stroke. The team sifted through more than 175 studies that looked at RPM from many vantage points: age, level of patient participation and whether the program was led by a physician or nurse.

The findings: remote patient monitoring and related telehealth services increased both access and quality of care while reducing costs.

This confirms the results of a study called CONNECT, which found that wireless remote monitoring of cardiac patients enabled clinicians to make informed treatment decisions 17 days sooner than with in-person visits alone.

Telehealth has come a long way since the Holter (cardiac event) monitor was introduced in the early 1960s. That device wasn’t portable and required the patient to remain in the hospital for monitoring.

As practiced today, RPM is a continuous two-way process, not just a periodic check-in. One recent RPM study found that diabetes patients showed improvements just by receiving and sending text messages to clinicians.

The word “remote” implies a cold and distant relationship. But with RPM, doctor/patient communication is now continuous and caring and it’s helping to significantly lower healthcare costs. RPM has proven ROI.