Remote patient monitoring reducing hospitalisations

As healthcare spending around the world increases, innovative methods of delivering cost-effective healthcare must be developed. Remote patient monitoring (RPM), referring to the measurement and analysis of a patient’s health status without needing to be physically present at a medical facility or in the presence of a medical professional, has emerged as a promising technology to drive down healthcare costs while maintaining a high standard of care for patients.

While traditional RPM technologies have involved connected blood pressure cuffs, heart rate monitors, scales, innovations in RPM bring increasing patient convenience. At the forefront is the drive to bring continuous monitoring to wearable devices. Recent activities from technology giants such as Apple, Google and Amazon seeking to disrupt the healthcare space, combined with increasing interest in and reimbursement of RPM, will bring about drastic changes to how patients will be cared for in the future.

At its core, RPM technologies and services enable healthcare providers to care for their patients outside of their regularly scheduled visits and follows the global trend in the healthcare industry of decentralisation to alleviate overburdened hospitals and clinics. RPM provides healthcare providers and carers with time-sensitive medical information which can be used to optimise the allocation of healthcare resources while simultaneously improving patient health outcomes.

For patients, the benefits of RPM include increased quality of life, reduced hospitalisations and emergency room visits, and reduced hospital stay times. By tracking a patient’s health status, early warning signs may be detected and even allow for preventative healthcare to be administered. This provides both patients and their carers with a peace of mind.

A key market for RPM technologies and services is in the care of chronic diseases, particularly in the elderly population. The world’s elderly population are responsible for a large portion of healthcare spending due to the high prevalence of chronic diseases in this group, and the high cost of managing chronic diseases.

Management of chronic diseases involves high levels of care (regular check-ups and good adherence to medication regimen) over the long term. With the increase in the world’s elderly population predicted, even small cost reductions in this space will have a drastic impact on healthcare systems around the world. 

In this report, IDTechEx leverages its existing coverage of wearable technology to bring the latest in technologies, applications, and opportunities for RPM. The report takes a deep dive into a spectrum of RPM approaches in the following high impact applications: 

• In-hospital monitoring
• Cardiovascular disease monitoring
• Diabetes monitoring
• Respiratory disease monitoring
• Monitoring of infants and the elderly
• Monitoring of medical adherence
• Monitoring for wellness

Examples of technologies covered in the report include electronic skin patches, smart mattresses, smart shirts, smart watches, connected inhalers and digital pills. This report cuts across IDTechEx’s expert analysis of wearable technology, wearable sensors, electronic textiles, electronic skin patches, and digital health, to bring to the reader the most relevant insights on the exciting innovations in RPM.