Discussion Response with reference
Introduction
A technology trend that has surfaced since the COVID-19 pandemic is remote patient
monitoring and telehealth. COVID-19 had many people afraid to leave their homes or
even to go to the doctor’s office. Telehealth brought about many challenges as it was
“born”. The biggest challenge being the inability to look, listen, and feel for the
assessment (Ge et al., 2023). Telehealth is delivered either via a synchronous phone call
or via a video visit, but obviously not in person. Providers had to get creative when it
came to completing their assessment of the patient’s current issue. That is where
remote patient monitoring (RPM) was born!
Challenges
The biggest hurdle of remote patient monitoring was patient compliance and then
followed closely by knowledge deficit (Wagholikar & Wagholikar, 2023). Getting
patients to understand the importance of using the devices supplied to aid in their
healthcare and provider decision-making is a struggle. Patients don’t see the value in the
extra monitoring (Shajari et al., 2023). Many patients require education on how to utilize
the devices and some cannot operate them correctly despite the simplicity (Yang & Lee,
2022).
Risk/Benefit
The risk with RPM devices is that the patient can utilize the devices incorrectly, which
can skew the data (Shajari et al., 2023). Proper education at the beginning along with
video demonstration and return demonstration is important to mitigate this risk. The
other risk is that another household member may utilize the device and then their
readings end up in your patient’s chart (Shajari et al., 2023). It is important to add this to
the education and alert the patient, if it does happen, to notify the provider’s office
immediately so that the reading can be removed. Having someone else’s or skewed
reading due to improper use can cause harm with treatment (Shajari et al., 2023).
The benefit with RPM devices is that the patient can be closely monitored from the
comfort of their home. The patient is able to take daily readings at their leisure and the
provider is able to see real time data on the patient. This real time data will often
prompt phone calls and other communication about “off” readings which can help
prevent hospitalizations (Wagholikar & Wagholikar, 2023). This data can improve
patient care and outcomes by allowing the provider to be more proactive.
Promising Trends
Telehealth is really taking hold in the healthcare industry. There are so many avenues
for patients to find a telehealth provider and get the care they need right from their
home. This saves patients time, money, and potentially makes them more willing to seek
care (Ge et al., 2023). Telehealth allows the provider to assess the patient, diagnose the
issue, and prescribe appropriate treatment without having to go to a clinic (Wagholikar &
Wagholikar, 2023). This will improve patient outcomes by decreasing wait times for
appointments, increasing patient willingness to seek care, and provide an overall better
healthcare environment for all involved (Yang & Lee, 2022). Telehealth makes
healthcare more efficient and relies heavily on data management as it is all electronic.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic destroyed many concepts in the world, but it also brought
about a positive healthcare change and that is the emergence of telehealth. Remote
patient monitoring makes telehealth possible through data sharing and technology. This
trend is likely to improve healthcare overall as it continues to evolve.
References
Ge, Y., Taha, A., Shah, S. A., Dashtipour, K., Zhu, S., Cooper, J., Abbasi, Q. H., & Imran, M.
A. (2023). Contactless WiFi sensing and monitory for future healthcare: Emerging trends,
challenges, and opportunities. IEEE Reviews in Biomedical Engineering, 16, 171–
191. to an external site.
Shajari, S., Kuruvinashetti, K., Komeili, A., & Sundararaj, U. (2023). The emergence of AI-
based wearable sensors for digital health technology: A review. Sensors, 23(23),
9498. to an external site.
Wagholikar, S., & Wagholikar, O. (2023). Application of wearables in healthcare
management: Recent trends and futuristic approach. 2022 OPJU International Technology
Conference on Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Development, 1–
6. to an external site.
Yang, C. W., & Lee, A. S. (2022). Using smart wearable technology acceptance model for
health monitoring technology. 2022 7th Internation Conference on Cloud Computing and
Big Data Analytics, 326–330.
