What You Should Know: 

 – Xealth, a digital health platform provider, today announced a collaboration with Stel Life, a frontrunner in health monitoring device connectivity. 

– The integration partnership aims to optimize remote patient monitoring (RPM) by facilitating faster, more secure integration of patient vital data into care team workflows.

Simplifying Data Access for Improved Patient Care

Enrolling patients in RPM programs is crucial, but ensuring timely access to their health data for researchers and care teams is equally important. Xealth’s integration with electronic health records (EHRs) bridges this gap by seamlessly incorporating Stel’s RPM program into existing clinical workflows. This empowers providers with instant access to vital health data, enabling them to make informed decisions regarding patient care.

Prioritizing Patient Privacy

Xealth and Stel prioritize patient privacy. Their integration is designed to ensure no protected health information (PHI) is ever shared between Stel and healthcare systems. This commitment provides patients with an additional layer of security and trust.

Reliable Connectivity for Diverse Devices

Stel Life offers a unique advantage by leveraging cellular networks for seamless and secure health device connectivity. This ensures reliable data transmission even in areas with limited broadband access. Stel Life’s comprehensive ecosystem supports integration with a wide range of wireless health devices, including:

• Scales
• Blood pressure cuffs
• Glucometers
• Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs)
• Wearables

Unveiling Patient Trends for Better Outcomes

Through Xealth’s digital health platform, data collected from various devices through Stel Life is aggregated and analyzed. This insightful data visualization allows healthcare providers to identify patient trends and patterns.

“We’re privileged to support innovative health systems in evolving care to the home and improving the overall health of the communities they serve,” said Sid Kandan, CEO of Stel Life. “We are excited to deploy Stel through the Xealth digital health platform, as not only does Xealth help power provider workflows, but also maintains our unidentified data design. We don’t need to know exactly who the patient is, but trust Xealth to get data to records.”

What You Should Know: 

– CLEW, a provider of clinical intelligence and predictive surveillance, has announced the general availability of its FDA-cleared AI platform. 

– The FDA-cleared AI platform empowers healthcare providers with the ability to identify patients at risk of deterioration up to eight hours earlier than traditional methods.

Early Warning System for Better Patient Care

CLEW’s platform leverages machine learning-derived prediction models to analyze patient data and forecast potential health decline. This allows for proactive intervention, leading to:

• Reduced Mortality Rates
• Decreased Complications
• Fewer Readmissions

Benefits for Caregivers and Patients

The platform goes beyond simply providing insights. It also offers:

• Built-in Best Practice Protocols: Customizable protocols allow healthcare systems to integrate their own established procedures, ensuring consistent care delivery.
• Tailored Alerts: The “NotifyMe” solution delivers targeted alerts for critical situations, minimizing information overload for caregivers.
• Clinician-Centric Tools: Features like the real-time patient worklist, developed in collaboration with nurses, reduce fatigue and streamline workflows.

Real-World Success and Reduced Alarm Fatigue

A recent study published in CHEST Journal showcased the platform’s effectiveness. CLEW’s predictions were found to be:

• Five times more accurate than alerts from a leading telemedicine system.
• Generate 50 times fewer alarms than other monitoring systems.

This translates to less time spent managing false alarms and more time focused on direct patient care.

“As we navigate the complexities of modern healthcare, AI-derived systems emerge as a beacon of innovation, transforming our approach to care delivery,” Paul Roscoe, CLEW CEO shared. “When delivered with meticulous regulatory oversight, AI can unlock new possibilities for precision medicine, early detection, and personalized treatments. Our commitment to integrating AI-driven prediction models into healthcare reflects our dedication to enhancing patient outcomes, driving efficiencies, and ultimately, saving lives.”

What You Should Know: 

– Owlet, a provider of smart infant monitoring technology, announced a strategic partnership with Wheel, a prominent virtual healthcare provider. 

– The partnership empowers Wheel’s network of clinicians to prescribe Owlet’s BabySat, an FDA-cleared infant pulse oximeter. This innovative device, featuring a comfortable sock design, allows caregivers to effectively monitor their baby’s health vitals at home. This collaboration fosters closer collaboration between parents and healthcare providers, ensuring optimal newborn care.

Addressing Critical Needs

Each year, over 450,000 babies transition home from neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in the US alone. Additionally, congenital heart disease (CHD) affects 40,000 newborns annually, and an estimated 58,000-80,000 children under five require hospitalization due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Streamlined Access and Reimbursement

The BabySat virtual telehealth platform, powered by Wheel, simplifies access to this vital monitoring tool. The platform integrates with durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers, facilitating insurance billing and potentially offering up to 100% reimbursement for BabySat. This streamlined process significantly reduces the time and effort required for families to secure the device and receive insurance or HSA/FSA reimbursement.

“We’re thrilled to announce our strategic partnership with Owlet, a leader in smart infant monitoring. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in our mission to expand healthcare access and simplify care delivery for all Americans — especially for growing families,” said Wheel CEO, Michelle Davey. “Wheel’s virtual care platform helps streamline access to home monitoring, making Owlet’s BabySat pulse oximeter more convenient for new parents than ever before.

What You Should Know:

–              Finnish health tech company Medixine has strengthened its presence in the U.S. market, announcing a deepened technological partnership with Nonin Medical, a leading manufacturer of wearable and noninvasive medical monitoring devices.

–              With the U.S. market for remote patient monitoring expected to exceed USD 25 billion by 2028, the collaboration is an important milestone in Medixine’s continued U.S. growth.

Driving Healthcare Innovation: Integrating Remote Patient Monitoring and Device Technology

An aging population and cost pressures are driving digitalization in healthcare. Remote patient monitoring is increasingly used for chronic diseases, which constitute 86% of healthcare costs in the US and globally. This trend is expected to continue.

A new partnership merges Medixine’s remote patient monitoring software with Nonin’s pulse oximetry devices, aiming to enhance patient care and reduce clinician burden. The collaboration focuses on overnight oximetry for pre-screening patients for supplemental oxygen and potential sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea.

What You Should Know: 

– Sunstone Partners, a leading private equity firm, has announced a strategic investment in Accuhealth, a prominent healthcare technology company. 

– The investment aims to propel Accuhealth’s rapid growth and empower them to expand their remote patient monitoring (RPM) and chronic care management (CCM) solutions.

A Focus on Simplifying Remote Patient Care

Accuhealth offers a comprehensive suite of hardware, software, and clinical monitoring solutions for RPM and CCM. Their focus lies in simplifying this technology for both healthcare providers and patients, ultimately enhancing primary physician care delivery.

The cornerstone of Accuhealth’s solution is providing real-time access to patient vitals. This empowers physicians to:

• Improve patient outcomes by proactively monitoring trends and identifying potential health issues early on.
• Enhance patient experience through more informed care decisions and potentially fewer in-person appointments.
• Reduce overall healthcare costs by preventing complications and hospital readmissions.

“We are thrilled to welcome Sunstone Partners as a strategic partner in our journey to redefine healthcare through innovation,” said Stephen Samson, CEO and Co-Founder of Accuhealth. “This investment marks a pivotal moment for Accuhealth, enabling us to accelerate our growth trajectory and further enhance our RPM and CCM solutions. With Sunstone Partners’ support, we are poised to drive greater value for our clients, attract top talent, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. Together, we will continue to lead the way in revolutionizing the delivery of healthcare.”

What You Should Know:

• Xealth, a pioneer in facilitating digital health on a large scale, revealed today that Children’s Wisconsin, the sole independent healthcare system in Wisconsin focused solely on children’s health, has adopted Xealth’s digital health platform system wide. This integration allows care teams to virtually connect with pediatric patients’ post-hospital discharge through Locus Health’s remote patient monitoring (RPM) solution.
• Children’s Wisconsin, Wisconsin’s exclusive independent healthcare system dedicated solely to children’s health, has implemented Xealth’s digital health platform across its system. This initiative enables seamless virtual connectivity between care teams and pediatric patients after hospital discharge, utilizing Locus Health’s remote patient monitoring (RPM) solution.

Transforming Pediatric Care: Xealth and Children’s Wisconsin Forge Pathways with Digital Health Solutions

Extended hospital stays following a procedure impose significant stress on children and their families. With an initial emphasis on cardiology, enteral feeding, and patients with tracheostomy vents, Children’s Wisconsin is harnessing Locus Health’s pediatric RPM solution, facilitated through Xealth’s digital health platform. This strategy aims to augment the hospital’s capacity to monitor specific pediatric patients post-discharge, facilitating personalized care plans, prompt interventions, and improved outcomes for young patients. Integration into the EHR streamlines the program into clinical workflows, ensuring care teams have immediate access to crucial health data.

Utilizing Xealth’s digital health platform to consolidate digital health assets and tools within the EHR, Children’s Wisconsin’s care teams can electronically order, monitor, and assess the utilization of these resources, fostering transparency in program adoption and effectiveness.

In March 2023, Xealth and Children’s Wisconsin disclosed the healthcare system’s adoption of Xealth’s digital health platform across its entirety to incorporate patient education and tailored content into care team workflows. This facilitates swifter and more convenient dissemination of consistent communications across locations, granting patients and their families timely access to trustworthy information.

“Having the ability to monitor our patients once they leave the hospital is remarkable. Our use of this platform and solution is in the early days, and we are already seeing improved outcomes — from avoiding an unnecessary emergency room visit, to being able to wean from the ventilator faster, or have a feeding tube removed sooner,” said Kimberly Cronsell, MD, associate chief medical officer and medical director for Digital Health & Experience for Children’s Wisconsin. “This is helping us provide better care to our patients, amplify our parents’ and caregivers’ ability to care for their children, streamline provider and care team workflows, and ultimately, improve clinical outcomes.”

What You Should Know:

– Intermountain Health, a healthcare system forms a strategic partnership with Sensorum Health, a healthcare technology company specializing in remote patient monitoring.

– The strategic collaboration aims to improve health outcomes and primary care access for older adults living independently with multiple chronic conditions. By focusing on early detection and personalized care plans, they aim to empower older adults to live healthier, more independent lives.

Combining Expertise for Better Care

The partnership leverages the strengths of both organizations. Intermountain Health brings its expertise in clinical quality improvement, patient-centered care, and healthcare delivery. Sensorum Health contributes its advanced remote monitoring technology and integrated clinical staff. The combination allows for the remote detection of early signs of health issues in older adults with chronic conditions, enabling timely interventions by primary care physicians.

Focus on Preventing Hospitalizations

Intermountain Health’s primary goal for this partnership is to improve patient health outcomes by preventing unnecessary hospital admissions. Early detection of potential health complications allows for treatment in a home or outpatient setting, reducing the need for hospitalization due to chronic disease flare-ups and other manageable conditions.

Pilot Program and Future Plans

The partnership will initially launch a pilot program targeting value-based care patients enrolled in the “House Calls” program offered by Castell Health in Salt Lake Valley. These patients are primarily homebound and manage conditions like congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The results of this pilot will be published in whitepapers expected in late 2024.

Collaboration for Effective Care Management

Sensorum Health’s clinical staff will collaborate closely with Intermountain Health’s team to identify early signs of potential health problems in patients. This collaboration will also ensure the development of personalized clinical intervention plans tailored to each patient’s specific needs and health journey.

“Older adults with multiple chronic conditions are almost four times more likely to go to the hospital for avoidable reasons compared to adults with only one chronic condition.¹ Many of these folks struggle to manage their health and have limited access to on-demand care outside of an emergency room due to their complex medical needs,” said Andrew Hotchkiss, CEO and Co-Founder, Sensorum Health.

What You Should Know:

• Rimidi, a market leading digital health company that supports healthcare providers in the delivery of remote patient monitoring and chronic disease management with EHR-integrated software, services, and connected devices, announced the launch of The Rimidi Care Network, a partnership program for remote monitoring clinical service providers. 
• As remote patient monitoring becomes widely available, particularly with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services now allowing Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Centers to bill for RPM and RTM, practices are looking for ways to implement remote monitoring services for their patients. As a result, the new partnership program makes it easier for providers to expand the bandwidth of their staff and scale remote monitoring programs. 

Introducing Rimidi Care Network: Revolutionizing Remote Patient Monitoring with Leading Partners

The inaugural partners of the Rimidi Care Network comprise:

1. GatewayMD – a comprehensive service and management enterprise specializing in Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), Chronic Care Management (CCM), and Behavioral Health Integration (BHI). Their offerings streamline chronic disease management by fostering communication between patients and their healthcare providers.

2. Quest Health Services RPM – a leading program in remote patient monitoring, prioritizing a top-notch experience for both healthcare professionals and patients. They excel in continuous glucose monitoring.

3. Avenue Health – a healthcare firm offering managed RPM solutions, aimed at easing implementation challenges for healthcare organizations.

Utilizing the Rimidi Platform, partners within the Rimidi Care Network can efficiently identify and enroll suitable patients for each remote monitoring program. This facilitates heightened patient engagement through consistent communication. Furthermore, they are equipped to manage the clinical and billing aspects of RPM, CCM, and CGM programs. This support extends the capacity of clinical teams and aids in the expansion of these programs.

“Labor shortages continue to plague hospitals and healthcare systems, creating limitations in patient care and management, but remote monitoring services can combat these issues – improving clinical staff efficiency and providing care for more patients,” said Lucienne Ide, MD, PhD, Founder and CEO of Rimidi. “With The Rimidi Care Network, we can extend access to remote clinical monitoring services for healthcare providers and ultimately help them improve engagement outcomes for patients with chronic conditions.”

What You Should Know:

– HealthSnap, a leading provider of remote patient monitoring (RPM) and chronic care management (CCM) solutions, announced today the closing of a $25M Series B funding round by Sands Capital, with participation from new investors Comcast Ventures, Acronym Venture Capital, and Florida Opportunity Fund.

– This latest funding round brings the company’s total funding to $48.5M and positions it for continued growth and innovation in the rapidly expanding RPM and CCM market.

Shifting the Paradigm of Chronic Care

HealthSnap’s RPM and CCM programs offer a proactive, ongoing care model delivered directly to patients’ homes, unlike traditional reactive and episodic care in clinic settings. This personalized approach empowers patients and enables healthcare providers to deliver more efficient and effective care, leading to improved outcomes and lower costs.

Proven Success and Growing Customer Adoption

Over the past 18 months, HealthSnap has experienced exponential growth, driven by the success of its integrated RPM and CCM platform.  This comprehensive solution empowers healthcare providers to deliver proactive, continuous care to patients with chronic conditions, leading to:

– Exponential growth: Over 300% increase in patient programs in the past year, driven by positive patient and provider experiences.

– Improved clinical outcomes: Proven results in reducing hospital readmissions and improving management of chronic conditions like hypertension, heart failure, and diabetes.

– Industry recognition: Clinical outcomes data presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions and partnerships with leading health systems like UnityPoint Health and Prisma Health.

Strategic Expansion Plans

This infusion of capital will power HealthSnap’s expansion plans across several key areas:

– Building a national clinical team: Attracting top talent to expand their care delivery capabilities and support a growing patient base.

– Enhancing product development: Accelerating innovation to meet the evolving needs of healthcare providers and patients, including the development of AI-powered population health and analytics solutions.

– Scaling partnerships and market reach: Further solidifying their position as a leading RPM and CCM provider by forging new partnerships and expanding existing ones with healthcare systems and physician groups.

“Nearly half of the United States population is living with a chronic condition that requires ongoing monitoring and care beyond the walls of the physician’s clinic. We created HealthSnap to bridge that gap in care and we are pleased that our patient outcomes data demonstrate meaningful improvements,” said Samson Magid, Co-Founder & CEO of HealthSnap. “Our team is focused on a common goal to shift the paradigm of chronic condition management and improve the lives of patients every day, and this new financing enables greater program accessibility for patients across the country.”

What You Should Know:

• Particle Health, an intelligent data platform that aggregates and delivers actionable patient data and insights to healthcare companies, today announced the availability of its new Patient Monitoring Solution, a purpose-built technology-enabled offering designed to give provider organizations a 360-degree view of their patient’s care journey and how they interact with the healthcare system.
• Particle is powering a shift from reactive to proactive care through the solution’s advanced data insights that give a better understanding of how patients utilize healthcare resources. 

Enhancing Healthcare Delivery Through Comprehensive Patient Monitoring

The utilization of this care encounter data enables more precise risk management within Value Based Care (VBC) models, fosters opportunities for advancing care delivery, and ultimately enhances patient outcomes. The company plans to unveil this offering next week at ViVE 2024 in Los Angeles, CA.

Particle recognizes the historical challenges faced by provider organizations in accurately tracking and identifying patient health encounters, especially crucial for real-time interventions. With the launch of their Patient Monitoring Solution, Particle adopts a comprehensive and strategic approach to assist healthcare providers in obtaining a longitudinal perspective of their patients’ healthcare journeys. Leveraging their expertise in health information networks (HINs) and leveraging known diagnoses and historical usage patterns, Particle precisely identifies critical provider-generated data, enhancing the ability to deliver timely patient alerts with relevant clinical context.

Key features of Particle’s Patient Monitoring Solution include:

1. Integration of ADT and EHR: Particle integrates various data sources, including Admission, Discharge, and Transfer (ADT) systems, electronic health records (EHRs), and state health information exchanges (HIEs), to provide a comprehensive patient view.

2. Advanced Referral Management: Particle’s solution facilitates efficient closure of the referral loop by notifying providers of scheduled and completed specialist referral appointments. Additionally, clinically significant data from specialist encounters, such as medication changes or test results, are seamlessly transmitted.

3. Care Journey Mapping: As patients progress through their healthcare journey, Particle’s search logic constructs and refines a personalized map of their provider network, utilizing known diagnoses and historical usage patterns to enhance accuracy and relevance.

“Particle Health built our new Patient Monitoring Solution to help clinical teams better optimize their workflows and available resources to achieve VBC quality metrics, but patient outcomes, in particular, will be the most impacted by what these new capabilities make possible,” said Claire Stanton, Senior Product Manager, Particle Health. “Needing to act as an intermediary between various doctors – relaying information across different appointments and having to repeat details and returning for multiple visits can be a frustrating and taxing experience. This new solution is designed specifically to remove a lot of those friction points, ensuring that all of a patient’s providers are actively informed of their healthcare encounters and empowering them to provide treatment in real-time.”

What You Should Know:

– WellSpan Health, a technologically advanced healthcare system, has partnered with Biofourmis to expand its award-winning hospital-at-home program.

– The strategic collaboration will leverage Biofourmis’ remote patient management platform to streamline care delivery, improve patient outcomes, and reduce readmission rates.

Partnership Details

WellSpan currently manages one of the largest hospital-at-home programs in the U.S., caring for over 400 patients monthly. As part of the partnership, WellSpan will replace its legacy system with Biofourmis’ configurable platform, supporting various acuity levels and disease states. Biofourmis’ FDA-cleared algorithms offer proactive care guidance based on continuous and episodic data from wearables and patient-reported outcomes.

Epic EMR Integration

Integration with WellSpan’s Epic EMR ensures efficient workflows, enhanced patient management, and streamlined billing. The program offers hospital-at-home care for up to 7 days, followed by post-discharge care and monitoring for up to 30 days. Throughout the care journey, the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered clinical insights will help drive proactive care. The insights are gleaned from continuous or episodic data collected from wearable biosensors and patient-reported outcomes from mobile devices. It also includes continuous single-lead ECG feeds and fall detection to support patients with atrial fibrillation and other cardiac issues.

The partnership aims to increase patient volume by 75% in 3 years, freeing up hospital beds for higher acuity needs. Expected benefits include reduced readmission rates, improved patient satisfaction, and better management of chronic conditions.

“WellSpan Health is a leading, innovative health system with a clear care-at-home vision and strategy. They recognize that a single, comprehensive care solution that enables scalable outcomes based on their unique needs during their care-at-home evolution is essential for driving a thriving program. We look forward to growing with WellSpan and supporting an optimal patient care experience and outcomes. Across the continuum of care, Biofourmis meets the needs of providers at any care-at-home stage–whether they are leveling up like WellSpan or just beginning–with market leading configurable technology, virtual care, and in-home services available in the market,” said Biofourmis Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder Maulik Majmudar, MD.

What You Should Know:

• In a groundbreaking healthcare initiative, Sheba Beyond, one of world’s first virtual hospitals, and Nuvo Group, a pioneer in remote pregnancy monitoring solutions, have accelerated their partnership to transform the care of high-risk pregnant patients in times of crisis and beyond.
• Amidst the challenges posed by the recent war in Israel on October 7th, this advancement in the partnership marks a significant breakthrough in prenatal care, particularly for patients requiring inpatient maternal and fetal monitoring.

Transforming the Care of High-Risk Pregnant Patients in Times of Crisis

For over a year, Sheba Beyond has employed Nuvo’s remote monitoring technologies and other solutions to conveniently oversee pregnant patients who would otherwise need frequent visits to outpatient clinics. Amid Israel’s wartime challenges, Sheba Beyond creatively expanded its remote care initiatives, even de-hospitalizing high-risk inpatients. Drawing on their experience with INVU, Sheba enlisted Nuvo’s support to donate additional technologies, enabling the reallocation of critical resources to prioritize treating civilians and the wounded while maintaining exceptional care for pregnant patients.

The collaboration between Sheba Beyond and Nuvo Group exemplifies a new era in healthcare resilience, showcasing the effectiveness of remote pregnancy monitoring even in challenging circumstances. If these advantages can be realized during times of war, it is reasonable to expect lasting benefits during times of peace.

Benefits observed by Sheba Beyond in remote pregnancy monitoring include:

• Clinical Accuracy Remotely Delivered: Real-time data collection enables precise monitoring of fetal and maternal health indicators from the comfort of patients’ homes, eliminating the need for prolonged hospital stays.
• Resource Optimization: The technology has played a crucial role in freeing up hospital rooms and reallocating clinical staff to address critical needs during the war.
• Increased Efficiency: Remote monitoring enhances patient management with fewer resources, boosting staff productivity and the quality of patient care.
• Potentially Improved Patient Outcomes: Home care reduces maternal stress, potentially leading to better pregnancy outcomes, including increased gestational age, which may correlate with reduced NICU admissions. Further data is needed to confirm a direct causal link.

Patients and clinicians have reported positive experiences with the Sheba Beyond remote hospitalization program. Patients have attributed remarkable improvements in their health outcomes to the program, including one patient who said: “I am confident that there is a direct connection between my being hospitalized on a hybrid basis, performing all the necessary pregnancy monitoring tests remotely through your monitoring belt, and the fact that my test results improved. I managed to maintain the pregnancy from week 32 to week 37 when the doctors were certain that I would need to be induced at week 34. Continue with your amazing work, and I believe that this service should be provided in every hospital in Israel and around the world.”

Chronic kidney disease may be one of the biggest killers of American adults, but individuals affected may not even know it. Today, more than 37 million people – 15% of the population – have chronic kidney disease, which is the ninth leading cause of death. But, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as many as 90% of these individuals are unaware they have this disease. 

One of the challenges is that chronic kidney disease often occurs alongside or as a result of other chronic conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease. These conditions put stress on the kidneys, causing damage over time and leading to impaired kidney function. When the kidneys do not function properly, waste builds up in the bloodstream and extra fluid can accumulate in the body, leading to further stress on organs and potential complications such as high blood pressure, stroke and early death if not treated effectively. 

As a result, it’s critically important that impaired kidney function is screened for and identified and that people with chronic kidney disease optimize management of blood glucose, blood pressure, weight and other potential risk factors. This is where remote patient monitoring (RPM) comes in as an important tool.

Growth of Remote Patient Monitoring for Chronic Conditions

While the technology has been around for a while, RPM became more commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to ensure that people with chronic health conditions could be supported, even if they were unable to attend in-person office visits. Early efforts to deploy remote monitoring tools focused on collecting blood pressure, blood glucose, heart rate, and oxygen levels.

Advances in medical device technology, including greater affordability of connected devices, combined with the revisions to the RPM CPT codes by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), allowing for supervision of RPM participants by clinical staff, encouraged more physicians to embrace remote monitoring tools to supplement patient health and wellness. In fact, by 2025, more than 70 million U.S. patients – more than 26% of the population – will benefit from some kind of RPM.

RPM is particularly making a real difference in the lives of patients who need to manage chronic conditions. With diabetes, for example, RPM allows diabetes management to be more of a partnership between doctors and patients. 

Connected devices used in RPM programs have made it easier for patients to manage their blood sugar with the help of their doctor in between in-person visits by ensuring providers can see the patient’s blood glucose data and take proactive action to prevent a decline in the patient’s health. 

Bringing Chronic Kidney Disease Management to the Home

While utilizing Remote Patient Monitoring for comorbid conditions like diabetes and hypertension can help providers proactively manage patients with early-stage kidney disease, individuals in later stages may already require dialysis and need a deeper level of care. Historically, dialysis has been provided on-site at clinics, with a significant time burden on patients who might need treatment 2-3 days per week. Now, as more healthcare tools are coming into the home, home dialysis is emerging as an important treatment option to make care more accessible, convenient, and affordable. Its use has increased over the past decade, but still, only about 13% of dialysis patients currently take advantage of in-home dialysis, despite studies showing that it has similar outcomes to in-patient treatment, greater patient satisfaction and reduced Medicare costs. 

It’s possible that number could continue to grow as a result of some relatively recent changes. The Advancing American Kidney Health Executive Order put forth ambitious targets for increased use of home dialysis, which resulted in CMS introducing new payment models to incentivize home dialysis. In its 2020 End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) final rule, the CMS added a new transitional add-on payment for dialysis machines used in patient homes. The rule specifically expands eligibility for the ESRD PPS’ transitional add-on payment adjustment for new and innovative equipment and supplies (TPNIES) to certain capital-related assets, including home dialysis machines. Proposed revisions to the 2024 ESRD PPS are still in draft form but we expect further adjustments to pay rates and quality programs. 

With the increased use of in-home dialysis, we expect to see alignment of RPM programs with home-based care options like home dialysis to continue to drive convenience for patients, more proactive management by clinics, better outcomes and lower cost.  Innovations in connected devices and systems for treating and assessing the progression of chronic kidney disease will be the foundation for this progress. 

About Lucienne Ide, MD, Ph.D.

Lucienne Marie Ide, M.D., PH.D., is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rimidi, a leading clinical management platform designed to optimize clinical workflows, enhance patient experiences, and achieve quality objectives for chronic disease management. She brings her diverse experiences in medicine, science, venture capital and technology to bear in leading Rimidi’s strategy and vision. Motivated by the belief that we can do so much better as individuals, in industry and society, Lucie left clinical medicine to join the ranks of healthcare entrepreneurs who are trying to revolutionize an industry.

What You Should Know:

– Biobeat, a provider of wearable remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions, announced plans to integrate with Current Health, Best Buy’s care at home platform.

– This integration will empower healthcare organizations to scale their RPM capabilities and improve patient care delivery.

Key features of the integration partnership include:

– Biobeat’s wrist and chest monitors will be integrated with Current Health, providing healthcare organizations with a reliable technology solution for remote patient monitoring.

– Biobeat monitors continuously track 13 vital signs, including cuffless blood pressure, pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen saturation, stroke volume, cardiac output, one-lead ECG (chest monitor only), and more.

– Seamless data integration: Biobeat’s data seamlessly integrates with Current Health, providing clinicians with a comprehensive view of their patients’ health information.

– Improved scalability: This partnership allows healthcare organizations to easily scale their remote care capabilities and reach a wider patient population.

– Enhanced care delivery: By providing healthcare providers with real-time access to patient data, the partnership enables personalized care plans and timely interventions.

“We are thrilled that Biobeat’s wearables will be integrated with Current Health. This collaboration will further strengthen our footprint in the US and enable clinicians to monitor patients’ vital signs regardless of their location,” said Arik Ben Ishay, Co-Founder and CEO of Biobeat.

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) has become an integral part of modern healthcare, utilizing wearable devices to track patients’ conditions outside the clinic or hospital setting. Devices like these collect critical information from patients, such as their heart rate, activity levels, and temperature, which providers can use for real-time insights to guide treatment and identify conditions proactively.

Due to the technology’s inherent advantages, providers and researchers have increasingly embraced wearables, generating an influx of health-related data. However, traditional cloud computing struggles to handle increased data volumes, resulting in slower processing speeds and potential data loss.

Edge computing is the key to managing these large quantities of data. It processes data at the source rather than sending it to distant locations, ensuring faster speeds and improved data security. Edge computing in the healthcare market, in terms of revenue, was estimated at $4.1 billion in 2022 and is projected to surge to $12.9 billion by 2028, according to a recent report by MarketsandMarkets.

As edge computing technology becomes more prominent, it is crucial to properly design workflows in order to take advantage of more timely processing near the source of the data as well as minimizing latency and workload on the cloud. For example, some data at the edge never needs to be sent to the cloud, while others may be transferred retroactively or in bulk, thereby not requiring real-time processing, which is network and computing-intensive. 

The Evolution of Edge Computing in RPM

Traditional cloud computing models are limited in their ability to handle substantial real-time data volumes. Bandwidth limitations can cause transmission delays for critical patient information, hindering timely analysis and prompt treatment. Plus, storing sensitive medical data on remote cloud servers can generate concerns about data protection.

Edge computing’s advantages are particularly evident for RPM data processing. With its rapid analysis of critical patient data, healthcare professionals can make timely decisions and interventions. By processing data closer to its origin, edge computing minimizes network congestion, improving overall data processing speeds. It also enhances patient data privacy by retaining sensitive information closer to its source, reducing exposure to potential security breaches.

On top of that, edge computing facilitates real-time data validation and preprocessing at the source, allowing immediate detection and response before transmitting data to the central cloud infrastructure. With this capability, edge computing enhances data accuracy and addresses practical processing challenges, ultimately improving data quality and reliability for analysis.

Expanding Reach and Accessibility in RPM 

With the advancement of edge computing technology in wearable devices, patients benefit not just from improved convenience, but also from a deeper level of engagement in their healthcare. 

Edge computing plays a crucial role in expanding RPM’s reach by enabling remote patient participation and broadening the candidate pool for clinical trials. Researchers can engage individuals previously excluded due to geographical constraints. The result is a more diverse participant demographic, enriching healthcare insights and research outcomes.

By leveraging edge computing, RPM can extend its reach beyond geographical boundaries, improving patient outcomes and increasing access to healthcare. As a result, previously underserved patient populations, including those in rural areas, can benefit from remote monitoring and timely interventions.

New Biomarkers Driving The Need For Edge Computing

Key advancements in RPM, such as continuous monitoring and real-time data streaming, have fueled the technology’s increasing adoption and are likely to contribute to the discovery of new biomarkers. The emergence of new biomarkers increases the demand for efficient and sophisticated data processing methods.

The analysis of such biomarkers requires substantial computational resources, often surpassing the capabilities of conventional data processing systems. This is even more critical when providers monitor patients in real time and need quick insights for diagnosis. New biomarkers are useful for faster and more accurate disease identification, but efficient data processing is essential.

Edge computing optimizes biomarker validation and integration by efficiently distributing computational tasks to devices equipped with edge computing capabilities, such as wearables and mobile phones. It minimizes latency, accelerates analysis, and ensures prompt results for effective medical interventions. Plus, edge computing can streamline the integration of biomarker algorithms into RPM devices, making advanced diagnostic tools more efficient. 

Design Considerations for Future of Wearable Technology

Incorporating edge computing technology into RPM devices is a game-changer for efficient data handling. Designers play a pivotal role in maximizing edge computing’s full potential to ensure seamless collection, processing, and transmission of patient data.

When designing for edge computing in RPM, here are some questions to consider:

• Does the data need immediate attention at the edge?
• Is the data only used for local processing, and therefore not needed in the cloud?
• Can the data be sent to the cloud retroactively or in bulk, versus in real time?

As the volume of data generated by RPM continues to expand, the demand for enhanced storage and connectivity capabilities is critical. Edge computing optimizes local data storage for immediate access and processing. Designers can focus on integrating storage solutions that align with the device’s edge processing capabilities, enabling efficient data storage and retrieval.

As RPM demand increases, traditional cloud computing limitations highlight the need for innovative solutions. Edge computing empowers healthcare providers with instant access to critical patient data for accurate diagnoses, personalized treatments, and early interventions. Its capacity to handle large volumes of real-time data boosts data reliability, enhances patient engagement, and improves accessibility.

About Jiang Li

Jiang Li, founder and CEO of Vivalink, has both passion and extensive experience in bringing innovative technology and products into the marketplace. Li’s nearly 20-year career in high technology took a new direction when a routine health check landed him at the ER under examination out of fear he was in the middle of a heart attack. Noticing the outdated monitoring technologies in the hospital, he knew emerging technologies could be properly implemented and sought to apply his background in flexible electronics to healthcare. Prior to joining Vivalink, he was responsible for new product and technology development as the VP of engineering in Kovio and Thinfilm Electronics, leading printed electronics companies. Prior to that, he worked at AMD and the joint venture between AMD/Fujitsu, Spansion. As the VP of product engineering in Spansion, Jiang managed the major new product launches in Spansion. Jiang holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a bachelor’s degree from Zhejiang University in China.