Updated research on RPM technologies, emphasizing the cost effectiveness of RPM use compared to standard care and disease management practices, as well as remaining barriers to its adoption.
Remote Physiological Monitoring Background
Remote physiological or patient monitoring (RPM) for heart failure, an innovative telehealth technology, was the subject of the New England Healthcare Institute’s (NEHI) 2004 report entitled “Remote Physiological Monitoring: Innovation in the Management of Heart Failure.” NEHI’s analysis of the available evidence demonstrated that using RPM for heart failure improves patient outcomes and decreases health care costs. Despite this potential, key barriers lie in the way of widespread adoption of RPM. The most significant barriers highlighted in the NEHI report include reimbursement shortfalls, clinician concerns and limited patient awareness of the technology.
NEHI has continued to work in this exciting area since publication of the 2004 report. In this update, we provide a cost-effectiveness analysis using the expanding evidence base for RPM, examine the status of barriers to adoption, and conclude with a look at coverage and reimbursement options.
Key Findings
• There is a 60 percent reduction in hospital readmissions compared to standard care and a 50 percent reduction in hospital readmissions compared to disease management programs without remote monitoring.
• Remote patient monitoring has the potential to prevent between 460,000 and 627,000 heart failure-related hospital readmissions each year.
• Based on this reduction in hospital readmissions, NEHI estimates an annual national cost savings of up to $6.4 billion dollars.
Find the study here.
Research released by Healthsense and NewCourtland Elder Services concludes that seniors who rely on remote monitoring technology to help them remain secure and independent adapt well to living with the technology and do not see it as intrusive or impersonal.
Conducted by an independent research consulting firm at four locations within the NewCourtland Network, a non-profit provider of community services, housing and nursing homes for more than 2,200 seniors in Philadelphia, the study measured the effectiveness of Healthsense’s eNeighbor remote monitoring technology and captured the perceptions of residents, family members and staff employing it.
Participants in the survey reported an overwhelmingly positive attitude toward the eNeighbor System. Seniors, some of whom have lived with the technology in their residences for more than two years, unanimously agreed that the system makes them feel safer and more secure while enabling them to live independently for longer. Of those surveyed, only one elderly resident reported a concern about intrusiveness. Staff members interviewed for the study unanimously agreed that the eNeighbor System allows them to better assess the care needed by residents, helps them provide the appropriate level of care, and improves the quality of care overall that residents receive.
“We thought at first that adapting to the technology would be a major issue for our residents, but clearly it was not,” said Kim Brooks, NewCourtland’s Vice President, Housing and Community-based Services. “The results of the survey demonstrate that even seniors with little or no prior exposure to this technology can readily adapt to it once they realize the improved quality of life it offers.”
Brian Bischoff, President and CEO of Healthsense, said, “Preliminary research supports that it’s potentially more cost-effective for seniors to receive care at home or in their own community versus an institutional setting. This study demonstrates the efficiency of technology to safely and affordably meet the healthcare needs of our rapidly growing senior population while enabling them to live independently and enjoy a better quality of life that supports their desire to age in place.”
via Study Shows Seniors Adapt Well to Remote Monitoring Technology .