For seniors, those with chronic health conditions, and patients who could benefit from ongoing virtual health management and support, remote patient monitoring (RPM) is an effective, efficient, fast-growing solution.
What Is Remote Patient Monitoring?
Remote patient monitoring is a virtual healthcare model that taps into the power of telehealth, one of the fastest-growing trends in healthcare today. According to management consulting company McKinsey & Company, telehealth usage has spiked 38 times from pre-COVID-19 numbers. While this initial spike was related to the pandemic, when patients were forced to adopt a new type of care in the face of quarantine and social distancing rules, it is largely believed that the pandemic only sped up growth. Users have risen dramatically from an estimated 29 million in 2020 to 45 million in 2022. As mobile solutions continue to evolve and users become more comfortable with remote technology, the advantages of remote healthcare become more obvious and adoption more widespread. By 2025, telehealth usage is predicted to swell to 70 million.
At Anelto, we have seen demand for remote patient monitoring grow dramatically, largely because the pandemic accelerated technology use among seniors. This caused many to explore virtual solutions to their healthcare needs with their providers. Seniors are among the groups who are leading the way toward the growth of remote patient monitoring.
Benefits of Remote Patient Monitoring
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, telehealth interventions can improve both medication adherence and clinical outcomes—two reasons providers are increasingly turning to companies like Anelto for remote patient monitoring solutions.
The following are just a few of the many benefits of remote patient monitoring:
- It encourages patients to take control of their health.
- It increases access to care while reducing in-person medical visits.
- It provides a path for streamlined chronic care management.
- It reduces emergency room visits, time spent in the hospital, and readmissions after hospitalizations.
- It provides flexibility and increased convenience.
- It makes healthcare more efficient.
- It’s easy to operate when using Anelto solutions.
- It provides peace of mind that conditions are being monitored.
- It reduces contact with other patients and exposure to pathogens and airborne viruses.
- It increases patient buy-in and accountability, which has been shown to affect care plan compliance positively.
Not Just for Emergencies
It’s understandable that remote patient monitoring would be associated with emergencies like falls, especially for the senior market. Virtual healthcare services like those provided by Anelto play an important role in chronic care monitoring. However, they also largely focus on preventive healthcare and chronic condition management.
Remote patient monitoring is for:
- Patients with an acute condition that needs immediate treatment
- Patients with chronic conditions that can be supported with monitoring and care management
Remote patient monitoring is particularly effective for senior care because it allows older patients to maintain a sense of control and independence while staying connected to a care team. Chronic conditions are regularly monitored, and urgent medical trends can be handled quickly.
What to Look for In a Remote Monitoring Program
If you’re considering an RPM solution for your patients, here are a few things to look for.
- Right-out-of-the-box readiness. With Anelto’s system, patients simply plug in the cellular device with Bluetooth connectivity to various pre-paired vital sign devices.
- Reliable communication. Look for a device that works on cellular communication, not Wi-Fi. That way, it’ll work even if the Internet goes down.
- Sufficient battery backup to ensure ongoing communication between patients and the care team. Anelto devices feature a three-day backup.
- Voice-centric communication. Secure conversational AI improves patient engagement, helps simplify treatment plans, improves compliance, and reduces operational costs.
- Easy clinical care team access. Anelto RPM systems can customize patient care to the provider’s requirements, whether you use your office staff or one of Anelto’s clinical care partners.
- Insurance coverage. Anelto RPM is usually covered by Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and most commercial carriers when prescribed by the provider.
How Remote Patient Monitoring Works
Patients enrolled in the Remote Patient Monitoring Program can have direct access to their RPM care staff; building a patient-centered relationship with the RPM care team benefits the patient and the provider.
RPM is meant to augment a patient’s care, not completely replace it. A care team can interact with the patient via their Anelto system hub on an ongoing basis. The RPM care team can share the patient treatment plan with other supporting providers and assist the patient with scheduling follow-up care. Care teams follow the provider/practice protocols for care management.
Examples of Remote Patient Monitoring Services:
- Monitoring vital signs daily
- Patient support and regular monitoring of signs and symptoms
- Scheduling health maintenance appointments
- Refilling maintenance medications such as blood pressure medicine if approved in the protocol
- Providing patient education on condition(s) they are being treated for or are at risk of developing, as well as other health tips
- Providing screenings for depression, fall risk, and many other important medical and behavioral health screenings
Leading remote patient monitoring companies like Anelto partner with providers to customize settings for each RPM system and if using a call center partner, clinical staff follows established provider protocols. Depending on how your RPM program is set up, the clinical support team can review daily reports to ensure compliance, document out-of-bounds vital measurements, and escalate as needed.
Out-of-bounds vital readings, patient signs and symptoms, assessment evaluations, health screenings, and incoming and outgoing calls are documented in the Anelto ConnectedCare Clinical Dashboard. Based on provider-established protocols, clinical staff may reach out to providers when medical intervention is indicated and escalate/ report findings according to the provider workflow. The provider sets the rules for how the workflow is set or protocol is developed.
About Anelto
Remote patient monitoring has been utilized for more than two decades, and as this industry continues to grow and evolve, Anelto is ready.
We are on the leading edge of remote patient monitoring and are constantly working to redefine what’s possible with RPM. Our goal is to help seniors thrive by creating better resources for physicians to connect and communicate with their patients.
Whether you use an Anelto clinical call center partner or your own team, your patients can rely on us for care whenever they need it.
We offer two RPM programs:
RemoteCareLive!
- Easy to use by seniors
- Enhanced video for senior and provider
- Cellular – No Wi-Fi needed
- Conversational AI audio and on-screen
- Vital sign devices are paired before shipping
RemoteCare
- Easy to use for seniors
- Enhanced audio capability
- Cellular – no Wi-Fi needed
- Voice-centric conversational AI
- Vital sign devices are paired before shipping
Contact us today for more information about remote patient monitoring or to Request a Demo.