We are in the age of technology, and it offers several ways to improve our daily lives – and, above all, our health. There were many technological advances for medicine; not only in the creation of medicines and new devices for exams but also in the care and monitoring of patients. One of these innovations is remote patient monitoring.
Let’s check in detail!
What is remote patient monitoring?
Remote patient monitoring technology emerges as a tool with immense potential to guarantee the well-being of beneficiaries, facilitating the monitoring of patients with chronic diseases and considerably reducing the need for hospitalization.
With advances in the area of embedded systems and wireless technologies, it became possible to develop equipment that performs essential tasks to monitor the health of a patient, combining low cost, reduced energy consumption, and a wide variety of features. It helps to aggregate all the information into one location and then transmit it electronically to other physicians for evaluation and advice.
These apps uses various health-related information about the patient, such as blood pressure, weight, height, blood sugar level, body mass index, and heart rate. This information is then recorded and sent to the doctor service providing telemedicine. Subsequently, healthcare providers use various procedures, such as intensive care units, preventive health check-up facilities, nursing departments, etc., to provide patients with correct diagnosis and treatment methods.
Advantages of remote patient monitoring
Greater savings
It is simple to think that monitoring the patient and acting in a preventive way can save a lot of resources and time for healthcare professionals to go to the clinic. When someone has a heart attack, for example, it is necessary to use urgent care and apply various drugs. After that, the patient will need to stay hospitalized, consuming local resources and the attention of professionals who could be turned to other people in more serious states – or even working internally, improving care and the flow of patients.
Remote monitoring makes it much easier to avoid this type of situation. For example, if the individual’s blood pressure starts to go out of the standard and goes to dangerous numbers, the health team quickly receives the alert, so the doctor can intervene before the worst happens. This can be done at the person’s residence.
Provide patients with high-quality communication and diagnosis services
There is not much difference between the way that medical service providers communicate with patients through video and face-to-face communication. They can assess the patient’s condition, diagnose the disease, prescribe medication, and schedule follow-up appointments. Doctors and patients agree that telemedicine is a good communication tool. 97% of patients participating in the Nemours Children’s Health System telemedicine program said they were “very satisfied” with the service. If domestic patients can choose a reliable medical platform, translation during direct communication can also be guaranteed.
Improves the relationship with patients
Establishing a good relationship between doctors and patients is the basis for the success of any medical clinic. Remote access control of the patient schedule can fulfill this role very well. When your clinic starts using this technology, you gain a broad set of information quickly, even before contacting the patient, regardless of where you are.
Upon realizing that you and your secretary know you well, the patient will be surprised and feel important and valued. The result can be a significant improvement in communication and patient loyalty.
Conclusion
It is important to remember that, to obtain effective results, it is essential that hospitals and operators invest in technology and connectivity infrastructure. Thus, they will be able to share data in real-time, ensure the security of information. For this, it is necessary to invest in the integration of this data with the electronic medical record of the patient and with the hospital. Only then, it will be possible to carry out actions to combat or prevent certain diseases.
Although it seems a high investment, the benefits brought by remote monitoring of patients to operators, institutions, people, and even the government, guarantee the return of what was invested. More than that, it guarantees an intelligent and beneficial health ecosystem for all links in the chain.