The Importance of RPM for Cardiac Care

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In the United States alone, over 82 Million adults¹ currently live with some type of cardiovascular disease. In such instances, each patient’s treatment and provision of cardiac care extends well past a cardiologist’s examination office, emergency room, or hospital bed and often continues at home. Remote patient monitoring, or RPM, has become an essential element of that patient’s at-home cardiac care and can positively impact how you and your patient approach health monitoring.

With the use of today’s RPM capabilities, patients can play a more active role in managing their own health. Including those with hypertension, heart failure, and other cardiac conditions, including those in recovery from cardiac procedures.

This collaboration between the patient, the provider, and the professional monitoring team can lead to a more positive health outcome for each patient. RPM can provide peace of mind for family members and caregivers. They know there are medical professionals who can recognize symptoms, in real time, and get immediate medical attention for their infirmed family member.

Why RPM Is Important for the Care of Your Cardiac Patients

According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Health², over six million Americans experience heart failure, one of the most common causes of frequent ER visits and hospital readmissions. Within this study, the NIH concludes that remote patient monitoring is highly beneficial for patients with chronic medical conditions. Its use supports the patient’s overall medical care and allows for early interventions on the part of disease management to improve health outcomes.

One way, in particular, RPM benefits the medical professional is that it increases the amount of data available to help make better diagnoses and adjust medication regimens. This data provides medical practitioners with a better understanding of each patient’s health and cardiac condition, allowing you to more accurately respond and adjust medications and monitor symptoms.

As a result, using RPM can lead to fewer in-office visits and fewer trips to the ER for your patients. Physicians gain access to any daily changes in symptoms or vital signs. This can give an early indication that a patient’s health is deteriorating.

Additional benefits of using RPM include the following:

• RPM can potentially aid in the early detection of occurrences of atrial fibrillation.
• RPM helps to reduce hospital admissions and adult mortality from heart failure.
• RPM improves the coordination between the patient and healthcare providers.
• RPM provides educational information for patients and their families.

Remote patient monitoring is an essential health tool that provides vital health information, even those who resist visiting a healthcare provider. It can give the patient a higher level of control over their health. Greater engagement means greater compliance. Also, greater retention and loyalty as a patient.

Examples of Beneficial Applications of RPM for Cardiac Care

Here are two examples where RPM can benefit cardiac care include hypertension medication management and identification of sudden weight gain.

Medication regimen in hypertension management

With ongoing remote patient monitoring, blood pressure levels can be measured continually, allowing medical providers to make timely medication regimen adjustments. The physician may also recommend heart-healthy living measures, such as diet changes. RPM allows the provider and the patient to see which measures are the most effective.

According to the American Heart Association³, RPM has been shown to significantly reduce SBP and DBP when compared to self-monitoring and care on its own. These studies show that the ability to measure blood pressure at home⁴ increases the positive outcomes of a patient.

Identification of sudden weight gain as a heart failure symptom

Not only measuring blood pressure but monitoring a cardiac patient’s daily weight is often recognized as a way to better manage chronic heart failure. Sudden weight gain may indicate the beginning of fluid retention in the body, which can be a heart failure symptom. With RPM, when this occurs, the patient’s cardiologist will be alerted, allowing a quick response to help reduce the health condition before hospitalization is required.

When it comes to your patients, you know best what will work for them and how to achieve better health outcomes. By partnering with a RPM Provider, you can gain access to data that can make a difference. Your patients can take a more proactive approach to personal care for their cardiac conditions. It’s a partnership that works.

Ready To Provide RPM to Your Cardiac Patients?

Cardiac care patients require treatment plans and monitoring that are specific to them. In other words, it needs to be personalized. The ability to identify symptoms as early as possible can make the medical professional’s role more efficient and beneficial to the patient without the need for them to travel to an office or emergency room. As one of the fastest-growing providers of remote patient monitoring, Medek RPM can help you implement a program in your practice to increase cardiac care for your at-risk patients. Begin a conversation with a Medek Representative today. 

_Footnotes:

1. _{https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000350}
2. _{https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10038166/}
3. _{https://www.heart.org/-/media/files/about-us/policy-research/policy-positions/clinical-care/remote-patient-monitoring-guidance-2019.pdf?la=en}
4. _{https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180909103208.htm}