Remote Care is a medical service that allows providers to have access to real-time health evaluations of patients outside the care of a hospital by using remotely connected monitoring and medical devices. It is used in combination with telemedicine or for routine and preventative care by measuring vital signs. The medical staff read the results and decides the appropriate point of care. If health vitals indicate worsening symptoms or irregularities, remote care alerts caretakers to contact the patient and assess for emergency care.
Remote care uses remote patient monitoring devices (RPM) that transmit patients’ vitals to their providers. Devices – like glucose monitors, pressure sensors, internet-connected blood tests, and EKG – are set up to be used in a patient’s home to provide essential diagnostics that make it easier to promote patient medication adherence and routine self-care. Providers can use health data from RPM devices to make critical changes to medication, diet, and exercise routines to improve patients’ overall health conditions.
Many RPM devices are powered through the Internet of Things, allowing various applications and equipment to exchange data through a connected network. Patient data from digitally connected technologies enables providers to understand symptoms and chronic conditions better, driving better patient experiences and health outcomes.
Remote care typically has three aspects: a wearable device, a connectivity platform, and a console. Patients wearing wearable devices transmit medical information into a connected platform that interprets this information into diagnostics and insights visualized on a console used by a provider.
Devices such as smartphones, intelligent pacemakers, and wearables capture vital health information that allows caretakers to have round-the-clock details to help make better treatment plans after significant surgeries or chronic symptom management. Patients can also manually enter health data - like weight, blood pressure, pulse oximetry, and temperature - into a Remote Care app or software on a computer that gets transmitted to a nurse for real-time clinical observations. Patients can make a video call with a nurse after they observe real-time vitals, along with the ability to view historical health data.
Healthcare teams can also optimize remote care with health questionaries taken from an iPhone or tablet, capturing disease-specific qualitative data.
Healthcare providers observe patient data from an internal system, software, or online platform that organizes health insights into informational charts, dashboards, and databases.
When conducting video consultations, providers receive document notes during the live interaction, instantly updating the information to the patient’s Electronic Health Record (EHR).
Remote care can benefit healthcare organizations in the following ways: