We sat around a little table in
my grandmother’s tiny kitchen in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN. Like every
morning before, her neighbor, Phil, stopped by for a cup of coffee. He walked
in with his eight-pound cylinder of oxygen in tow. His silver spoon clinked the
edges of his glass as he stirred his coffee. At 86-years-young, he proudly
maintained a smirky sense of humor and teased us for adding three spoonfuls of
sugar to our coffee. That was over 18 months ago now. It seems like life was
simpler back then.
Sadly, Phil’s age and chronic
condition place him in the “high risk” category for COVID-19. Along with events
like birthday parties and wedding ceremonies, our coffee visits, too, have
become virtual. I can’t help but think how technology has potential to enable
people like Phil to simply live a “normal” life during the COVID-19 pandemic
and beyond.
Making patient care virtual
and safer
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of
those global events that triggers new behavior. Patients and physicians are
embracing the moment with a combination of technology and social distancing to
achieve safer health management by avoiding contact with the virus.
At first, we saw medical
practices respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by setting up telehealth services —
video conferencing technology that complies with HIPAA (Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act) privacy laws and enables virtual patient
care. Widespread availability of telehealth has meant patients can consult with
doctors without leaving home, and thus minimize the risk of coming into contact
with the virus. So where do we go from here?
Medical devices that rely on IoT
(Internet of Things) technology will have the next major role to play in
contact-free patient care. By leveraging the internet and wireless connectivity
to transmit patient data — such as blood pressure, weight, and heart rate — to
physicians in real-time, RPM (remote patient management) devices provide
another layer to the social-distancing protection offered by telehealth. With
RPMs, the same HIPAA privacy laws apply, but physicians are even better able to
meet the patients “where they are” and further minimize exposure to
coronavirus.
RPMs are not only practical;
they make life safer during a pandemic
Using RPMs for COVID safety
builds upon the original purpose of RPMs. When the technology was first
introduced decades ago, the goal was to prevent treatable conditions from
becoming chronic by making doctor visits more practical. For example, by
monitoring a patient’s blood pressure data in real-time, physicians could
remotely manage issues such as spike and dips.
Now, the need for social
distancing is creating a new set of RPM benefits around safety and virus
avoidance.
RPM adoption poised to
increase
Overall, patients with wearable medical devices enjoy convenience, improved quality of care, peace of mind, and deeper knowledge about their health condition. Likewise, physicians are able to deliver a higher-quality of care to more patients, and with lower costs and higher efficiency. A study of remote patient management found:
- 69% of healthcare professionals
ranked RPM the number one reducer of overall healthcare costs
- 71% of healthcare professionals
ranked RPM, wearables, and caregiver collaboration tools as most impactful on
patient experience and care coordination
- 62% of patients said RPM
devices that track and send data to their doctors would help them manage their
condition
- 40% of elderly people want
access to technology that alerts physicians and caregivers
The appetite for RPM is strong,
but challenges remain
There is consensus among patients
and medical professionals that RPMs enhance their confidence in overall medical
condition. Despite the high approval marks, RPMs have met with adoption
barriers in the medical world which mostly comes down to cost. Who is going to
pay for this technology? Regardless of who pays, product managers and
developers of these solutions have some control over the realistic deployments
of RPMs when building out the architecture. To that end, the wireless technology
used for a successful RPM solution will need to address two key elements
driving adoption: low cost and high reliability.
Affordable RPM solutions:
For seniors on a low, fixed income, and who are the primary users of RPMs,
paying for the RPM device itself can be a challenge. This is especially true
for those who depend on government-funded medical care. There will be little
appetite to purchase devices perceived as adding to healthcare costs. In the
United States, the number of state Medicaid programs that reimburse for RPMs
are increasing, but the total is still only around half. And that may be hard
to change with a growing 65+ population. According to the US Census Bureau, the
number of Americans ages 65+ is projected to nearly double from 52M in 2018 to
95M by 2060. That’s about one quarter of the entire predicted population. All
of this means that if something doesn’t change to control the cost of RPM
solutions, then more and more people could continue to be at risk and without
access to potentially lifesaving technologies.
Reliable transmission of data:
The patient-physician relationship relies on trust, so reliability is a
priority. For example, a patient with a heart condition may live in rural North
Carolina where cell towers are abundant, but Wi-Fi and broadband services are
not. Before committing to an RPM, patients may ask: Will my cellular bill be
out of control if my heart monitor is constantly sending and receiving
heart-rate data from miles away? Will my oxygen-saturation data transmit in
real-time over cellular, or will a lag time delay my medical care? Will my
privacy be protected by HIPAA to the same degree as an in-person visit? RPM
solutions must be able to answer yes to these questions.
IoT opportunities for remote healthcare in the age of COVID-19
As mentioned in the study above,
the desire to embrace remote patient healthcare has existed for years. Now,
with the onset of the pandemic and the need for social distancing, the demand
is speeding up.
For IoT managers eyeing the
opportunity in remote healthcare, the key to success is solving the challenges
in adopting wearable medical devices: The RPM solution must:
Be inexpensive – patients who
need remote healthcare are looking for an RPM device they can afford.
Offer mission-critical cellular
connectivity, no matter where the device is transmitting from – whether it’s a
rural location or a travel destination, patient data needs to flow in real-time
and inexpensively over cellular.
The ubiquity of the pandemic,
advances in RPM and IoT technology, and the ability to offer reliable,
affordable service over cellular is giving IoT managers a unique role to play.
They can help solve the most pressing global challenge by making healthcare
social-distance friendly, faster, better, and cheaper.
Ref:
https://iottechnews.com/news/2021/jul/12/turning-to-iot-for-better-patient-care-beyond-the-pandemic/