Transforming Healthcare Outcomes with Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

When done right, population health strategies can improve patient outcomes and personal health across communities and reduce hospital readmissions. Healthcare organizations are shifting focus on wellness instead of sick care, leveraging data to improve care and engage patients in their care journey more effectively. The rise of remote patient monitoring (RPM) technologies has helped extend care to patients without requiring an in-person visit to a hospital or medical facility.

Healthcare providers are now utilizing hospital-at-home strategies, where patients with chronic diseases have their data from RPM solutions integrated into the hospital’s EHR platforms, giving care teams a more complete, longitudinal view of a patient’s medical conditions and treatments. This approach enables convenient communication between care teams and patients and makes it easier to track and manage patient health.

RPM and telehealth can also significantly improve health equity, the fifth component of the Quintuple Aim. Such solutions address barriers to quality care like accessibility, early intervention, chronic disease management, cost reduction, and personalized care. By integrating RPM with EHR systems, we create a seamless care continuum. This empowers patients to engage with their healthcare providers proactively and securely while giving clinicians valuable insights to deliver personalized, high-quality care.

The result? Significantly better patient outcomes, greater healthcare efficiency, and improved population health and equity.

Industry Insights

The recent public health emergency accelerated the adoption of telehealth and highlighted the crucial role of RPM technologies in extending patient care remotely to patients unable to leave the house or unable to be seen in person:

• Increased Adoption:

  Consumer use of telehealth soared from 11% in 2019 to 46% in 2020.

• Scaled Provider Offerings: 

  Providers now see 50 to 175 times more patients via telehealth than before.

• Projected Physician Shortage:

  The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) estimates a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians in the U.S. by 2036.

• Growing Elderly Population: 

  By 2036, the U.S. population is expected to increase by 8.4%. Notably, the number of individuals aged 65 and older is projected to rise by 34.1%, with an even more significant increase of 54.7% in the population aged 75 and older.

• Nursing Workforce Challenges: 

  Approximately 100,000 registered nurses left the workforce during the pandemic due to stress, burnout, and retirement. Another 610,388 RNs intend to leave by 2027 for similar reasons, with 188,962 RNs younger than 40 also planning to exit.

Improving Population Health

The AAMC is dedicated to improving people's health worldwide. Addressing national health goals, such as reducing excess body weight, hypertension, and smoking, can help prevent or delay disease onset, thereby improving population health and potentially reducing physician overload.

Conversely, improved population health can lead to longer life spans, resulting in longer-term demand for healthcare services as the aging population grows. This could result in a net increase in physician demand to serve a larger, healthier population. Healthcare organizations will need to find innovative ways to continue improving population health in light of a shrinking pool of skilled clinical staff to support the ever-growing elderly population.

Streamlining Healthcare Technology Support with Zones

At Zones, our Clinical Service Desk (CSD) supports your population health goals by offering comprehensive support for clinicians and patients using EHR, patient portal, telehealth, and RPM technologies. Backed by a team experienced with clinical applications like Epic, Cerner, MEDITECH, In Touch, and Teladoc, we provide a single point of contact for seamless and effective support across hospitals and ambulatory and affiliated practices. Our scalable solutions accommodate both mature EHR systems and those in transition, ensuring long-term growth.

Benefits

• Enhanced User Experience: High levels of first-call resolution.

• Reduced Onsite Workload: Eases the burden on your EHR and telehealth support teams.

• Sustained Focus on Complex Projects: High-cost analysts can concentrate on more complex activities and projects such as application upgrades or module enhancements.

• Improved Change Management: Supports effective change management and adoption rates.

• Comprehensive Patient Support: Supporting telehealth and RPM tools in your patient neighborhoods enhances patient experience and enables healthier communities.

At Zones, we break down technological barriers to deliver robust support for your clinical application and digital health platforms and the doctors, nurses, and patients who use them. Our Clinical Service Desk supports enhanced patient outcomes by ensuring timely resolution to all technology issues that often restrict or hinder patients from utilizing telehealth platforms to maintain a connected stream of care with their providers.

References:

To learn more about Zones Clinical Service Desk or to request a call, email HealthcareIT@zones.com or visit our CSD page.