RPM technology is a smart innovation for savvy practitioners

The COVID-19 pandemic brought attention to issues such as patient access to care, and it accelerated existing technology and innovative options, including telemedicine and remote patient monitoring (RPM). RPM isn’t new, but its devices and technology continue to evolve and improve. If RPM is expected to save the U.S. health care system $200 billion over the next 25 years, as research from Deloitte indicates. RPM offers a more effective method of care with today’s technologies, but there are initial costs in equipment, training, process adaptation, etc., even if the capital outlay often is lower than for conventional medical equipment. When RPM technology is used successfully, patients don’t have to drive back and forth to the clinic, and appointments can be managed on a tighter schedule. For example, vital signs and other physiological information can automatically be captured from patients at home and routed to the clinic with little intervention by either the patient or the care provider, thereby increasing both speed and accuracy of data. With acute care for a specific incident or condition, RPM can facilitate a patient’s earlier discharge from the hospital or inpatient facility if the condition can be effectively monitored from home.