Remote patient monitoring (RPM), which involves using mobile devices to check on patients’ vital signs while at home, as well as in-person or virtual visits from medical professionals, has seen a rise in adoption.
The market value of remote patient monitoring devices in 2021 was US$1.45 billion and is now expected to reach US$4.07 billion by 2030 at an 8.74 per cent CAGR.
Remote patient monitoring benefits for home health
RPM can significantly advance the possibilities of home healthcare. Home care agencies can monitor what is happening in the home with the help of the remote patient management application. This allows them to use their resources more effectively and focus on the patients who genuinely require care on a particular day, but it can also save costs.
RPM technology allows caregivers to keep an eye on patients from remote locations, which improves the time spent on the patient/clinician connection.
The decrease in unnecessary visits to a hospital or clinic is another advantage of this improvement in patient-clinician communication. Visits only occur when necessary because contact between patients and caregivers is already constant and effective.
Future trends
When patients attend a healthcare centre, their primary goals are to recover and return home. The pandemic provided a catalyst to reimagine the future of Care at Home services, notably in the US.
Based on a survey of physicians who primarily serve Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) and Medicare Advantage (M.A.) patients, up to US$265 billion in care services (representing up to 25 per cent of the total cost of care) for Medicare FFS and M.A. beneficiaries can be moved to the home by 2025 without reducing quality or access. In addition, Care at Home might benefit payers, medical facilities, physician organisations, Care at Home suppliers, I.T. firms, and investors. It may also enhance the standard of care for patients.
Factors affecting the adoption of remote patient monitoring
A number of variables may influence how quickly services increase care at home. Stakeholders must assess which services can be provided at the patient’s home to address their physical, behavioural, and social needs effectively. Care-at-home providers, tech firms, and investors could contribute by fostering innovation.
Second, the economic sustainability of Care at Home may affect uptake. Because of the possibilities for lower (or non-existent) payment for care if offered at home instead of in a more expensive venue, several healthcare facilities and physician groups have been less motivated to seek Care at Home for their patients. Adoption can be boosted by new payment innovations or reimbursement policies (such as telehealth payment parity or value-based payment plans).
Third, medical knowledge, views, and skills might have a role. Doctors might study case studies and outcomes of how high-quality care can be provided at home, learn about the prospects of care at home, and get instructions on how to carry out the interventions. To raise awareness and give clinicians training and education, payers may have a significant impact.
The final consideration is how patients feel about Care at Home. Patients can be informed of their home care alternatives and express a preference for that type of treatment versus facility-based care. Payers could fund particular services to encourage uptake, and clinicians could advocate Care at Home to patients when clinically appropriate.
How to accelerate growth
Payers, healthcare facilities, and physician organisations, as well as Care at Home providers, technology companies, and investors, could consider a variety of potential activities to help stimulate the adoption of Care at Home services:
Payers
- Create a Care at Home strategy with use cases that are value-based. This might occur when higher revenue and lower medical expenses offset the possibility of stimulated demand and service reimbursement.
- Benefits can be redesigned to support enabling services and the direct provision of care at home (for example, remote monitoring, care management, social support, or assistance with daily living).
- Make providers aware of the technology available for Care at Home and train and educate them about their usage and benefit.
- Create a network of high-quality Care at Home providers, technology firms, and neighbourhood-based businesses (like food banks) that can assist Care at Home.
- Expand reimbursement policies (such as reimbursement for Care at Home at parity with regular reimbursement) or payment innovation models (like shared savings on the total cost of care) to motivate providers to support Care at Home.
- Adopt utilisation-management policies (such as deciding on a suitable discharge location as part of transition-of-care programmes) to make it easier to transfer care from other locations to the home when it is medically necessary.
- Utilise care management to educate members about care at-home possibilities.
Healthcare facilities and physician groups
- Develop a Care at Home plan that is value-based and includes use cases where the economics are good, and patients gain from higher-quality, easier-to-access care.
- Create clinical Care at Home models for patients (in-home acute care, primary and speciality telehealth care, or in-home infusion services).
- To deliver Care at Home or supporting services (such as remote monitoring, care management, social support, or assistance with daily living), forge relationships with other service providers or technology firms, or develop internal skills.
- Agree with payers to guarantee that payments for Care at Home services are made economically sustainable.
- Create analytics based on the use cases to detect patients who would benefit from care at home (for example, high-risk patients with chronic disorders who can benefit from more support at home to prevent exacerbations).
Care at-home providers, technology companies, and investors
- Create business cases or investment theses for home care (for example, primary telehealth care, in-home dialysis, and remote monitoring). Estimate market potential, assess the market landscape, and comprehend how the industry may evolve.
- Opportunities must be evaluated, with providers and technology businesses determining how to construct, buy, or collaborate for skills and investors evaluating possible assets.
- Implement these strategies, with providers and technology businesses developing new offerings in these markets and investors investing in market assets.
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This article appears in Omnia Health magazine. Read the full issue online today.
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