Strategies to Improve Time to Activation within an Ambulatory Remote Patient Monitoring Program

Ambulatory remote patient monitoring (RPM) programs have effectively reduced avoidable emergency department visits and hospital admissions.

ABSTRACT

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) programs have been shown to effectively decrease rates of healthcare utilization among patients with chronic conditions. Immediately enrolling a patient and activating them in the RPM program either upon or soon after discharge is an important step in achieving these benefits. We tested interventions across three Plan-Do-Study-Act quality improvement cycles to understand the extent to which operational improvements would lead to timely activation.

Each improvement cycle resulted in decreased time to activation, with the cumulative effect (as applied to patients on the COVID-19 RPM program) resulting in a reduction that was overall greater than the sum of the individual improvements. As additional healthcare systems develop and deploy RPM programs, the learnings from this project can help to provide insight into the operational and logistical challenges encountered in providing these services as well as potential interventions that can be used to achieve timely activation.

In 2016, there were 49.22 million U.S. citizens over the age of 65 years. By 2030, that number is projected to increase to 74 million. As the aging population in-creases, so too will the number of individuals with chronic diseases, including heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, and respiratory conditions. In response to this rising number of patients, as well as additional challenges related to limited hospital capacity and shortages of health-care staff, many healthcare organizations are developing and refining transitional care programs.

Want to read more? Head here: https://doi.org/10.30953/tmt.v7.361

Authors (Mayo Clinic)

• Mark Stemler
• Nicole Ploog
• Shelby Gathje
• Jordan Coffey