The COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the need for effective virtual healthcare as its continuing spread presents unprecedented challenges of managing the health of the patient population in a save, effective manner.
In a pandemic where in-person, face-to-face treatment poses a significant risk, home-based monitoring for symptom escalation can help reduce the risk of transmission. So for patients who still need close observation but are safer convalescing at home, telemedicine and remote patient monitoring (RPM) are an ideal solution. Consequently, the use of RPM monitoring devices has accelerated rapidly with COVID-19. It allows clinicians to monitor temperature and pulmonary function, blood pressure and other appropriate physiology for changes and then communicate any necessary modifications in medicine and other self-care to the patient.
Providers can decide who can be safely monitored at home. This avoids the risk of hospitalization for the patient and leaves the healthcare system with capacity for those who really need to be in-patients. RPM and remote provider-patient interaction are our ‘new normal’ and the next logical step in medical practice.
RPM@Home™, WITHmyDOC’s remote patient monitoring kit, allows physicians to set target parameters for each’s patient’s vital signs. It will trigger a critical alert if the patient’s vital signs fall out of normal range. At that point, with a COVID-19 patient, the physician can decide whether an at-home treatment modification is in order or whether the patients needs to be admitted to the hospital.
Another use for COVID-19 patient monitoring is in the hospital. Remotely monitoring patient vitals can significantly reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus by minimizing healthcare professionals’ exposure to infected patients. Monitoring can be done while the patient is in an isolation unit or a temporary hospital facility. Bluetooth capability allows for continuous monitoring through the WITHmyDOC platform.
Learn more about how RPM improves access to care and drives down healthcare costs while increasing medical capacity by reading the EXPERT on CALL article in MD Life by
WITHmyDOC’s Chief Medical Officer, Frank Astor MD, MBA, FACS.
