Hospital readmissions have placed a substantial financial strain on the United States’ healthcare system. The average cost of readmissions in 2016 was $14,400, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). According to the Center for Health Information and Analysis, hospital readmissions cost Medicare roughly $26 billion each year. More importantly, readmissions have a detrimental impact on patients, frequently resulting in a deterioration in health.

When the Affordable Care Act became law, over 20% of Medicare patients were returning to hospitals within 30 days of release. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began reducing compensation to hospitals with high readmission rates as part of the legislation’s mandate. Two proactive hospitals used post-discharge follow-up procedures to ensure that patients understood and followed doctors’ recommendations. These efforts were fruitful. According to CMS, 49 of the 50 states reduced hospital readmissions between 2010 and 2015 

What is Remote Patient Monitoring?

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a way of healthcare delivery that leverages the newest advancements in information technology to capture patient data outside of typical healthcare facilities. It is sometimes abbreviated as RPM (and is also known as remote patient management). Remote patient management is about bringing more healthcare out of the traditional environment, into the home and where people live, work, and play every day. It’s also about leveraging technology to bridge the gap between the conventional physical setting of healthcare and where people want to live every day.

Naturally, this comfort raises their levels of involvement; and by raising engagement, remote patient monitoring can assist enhance the quality of treatment. Patients are incentivized to better engage with their own health because of the convenience of quality RPM models, but clinicians are also better equipped to understand and manage their patients’ health situations, with a more constant stream of data that provides a much clearer picture of the patients’ health.

This allows physicians to see what’s going on with patients early. As a result, caregivers can more properly monitor what’s going on and ask more pertinent questions. In brief, RPM empowers doctors to know what is happening with their patients daily as it happens. Read about how to avoid these 4 remote patient monitoring pitfalls for more information.

How Can Remote Patient Monitoring Reduce Hospital Readmissions?

  • Enhanced Follow-up Procedures

Patient participation is frequently included in a successful follow-up strategy. Self-care practises, such as sticking to medication regimens and dietary restrictions, are critical to recovery in many situations. Symptom monitoring may also be important in avoiding problems. 

Physicians make every effort to emphasise the significance of patient compliance. Unfortunately, people without medical expertise may find it difficult to comprehend this information. Further, contacting healthcare professionals may be difficult but fortunately, improvements in RPM have made it easier than ever for patients to follow up. Apps for video conferencing are extremely handy. They help patients avoid complications and subsequent hospitalizations by offering rapid and easy access to healthcare experts.

  • Improved Clarification 

Patients need to effectively follow the advice that might help them avoid further hospitalisation and readmission. Unfortunately, busy healthcare practitioners do not always have the time to devote to this clarification. 

All too frequently, patients come home only to discover that they have forgotten their self-care instructions. It might be challenging to absorb spoken information from a healthcare practitioner during a period that is typically defined by stress and uncertainty. Many patients also have difficulty understanding printed discharge instructions. Because certain activities might be more complicated outside of a medical setting, comprehension is essential. RPM can help patients connect with a healthcare professional for real-time video support.

  • Additional appointments

In most situations, following up entails more than simply checking in. Nurses, personal support workers (PSWs), and care coordinators may help with particular chores while also monitoring patient well-being. However, post-discharge visits with family doctors and specialists are typically required.

However, in-demand practitioners may not be able to see individual patients as frequently as they would want. On the patient’s end, COVID-19 and other factors such as transportation make in-person visits challenging. Further, rescheduling is not always easy. Missed visits, as well as extended wait times, might cause health issues to go undetected. As a result, poor health outcomes and ultimately hospital readmission may occur.

RPMs such as Acuma Health allows doctors to attend to more patients in less time. It can reduce missed appointments, allowing more patients to obtain the specialised follow-up treatment they require and reduce patient readmissions drastically. For more information and insightful updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.