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The medical industry is currently experiencing one of the greatest technology booms in its history. A wide range of new technologies in every aspect of medicine is squarely aimed at the most important areas of the industry. Patient care, medical records, remote patient monitoring, surgery, pharmaceutical, and vaccine development, and nearly every other area in the industry, show advances occurring at breakneck speed.
Part of the reason for this is the sheer size of the industry. The US medical industry, at nearly $3 trillion dollars annually, is the largest industry in the country and growing nearly 5% each year.
Although many of these advances accomplish the most important goal of providing better care, increasing the speed and quality of medical services, and lowering costs, what is often overlooked is that the best new technologies should also assist in helping patients to feel more comfortable about engaging with the medical industry. Part of this is accomplished by handholding patients during this high rate of technological change. Those involved in the medical industry must be aware of today’s patients fears and frustrations and consistently seek to position the new technology in a way that instills comfort. One area where this is critically important is in the remote patient monitoring space.
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a new and powerful technology that enables caregiving and monitoring of patients outside of conventional clinical settings. These settings include the home and remote areas where clinical access is inconvenient. New technologies and strategies allow patients increased access to care on a round-the-clock basis and can significantly decrease medical costs.
The technology employs a combination of telecommunications, technology tools and software, and patient self-care strategies. Patients are trained in the use of equipment so that health professionals can remotely monitor their activities and health
Today, remote patient monitoring is used for a long list of illnesses and patient situations. Whether it is for a one-time health crisis or chronic-disease management this method can significantly improve an individual’s quality of life. With remote patient monitoring, patients can maintain their independence, minimize or limit complications, and minimize their medical costs
Data analysis is performed, sometimes on a real-time basis to reduce the number of emergency rooms visits and hospitalizations. This technology can help to greatly reduce the length of hospital stays.
Key features of RPM, such as remote monitoring and trend analysis of physiological parameters, enable early detection of deterioration in condition; thereby reducing emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and the duration of hospital stays.
As more insurance companies and medical providers support it, remote patient monitoring is becoming more widespread. As with all new technologies, however, this key tool has challenges and no one company is an expert in every aspect of delivering the services. This is why it is so exciting that two of the top companies in the field Innovaccer and Care Signal have come together in a partnership to provide their combined tools and expertise.
Innovaccer provides the most comprehensive data activation platform in the industry. Their platform allows medical providers to seamlessly connect and manage integration with clinical, claims, labs, and other healthcare data sources through their advanced FHIR platform. It can provide relevant data for any stakeholders within a system and is accessed via desktop or on mobile through a tablet. Their system coordinates and manages all resources and actions, and reduces costs.
Care Signal provides deviceless remote patient monitoring, they can put a system into a patient’s hands that is powerful yet simple to engage with and use. Their system is always on and uses SMS text messaging and IVR calls to patients. The focus on simple communication with patients ensures accuracy and a wide variety of integrated tools that provide remote patients with any of the communication tools they require.
Patients are tracked throughout their weekly schedules and all data is processed and closely monitored. Care Signal offers evidence-based end-to-end support services for chronic medical conditions such as asthma, CHF, COPD, diabetes, depression, hypertension and hospital discharge support, and maternal health monitoring.
The partnership allows each company to play to its strengths and enables each partner to use the skills and expertise of the other to provide a comprehensive solution.