Benefits of Home Monitoring Noted for Heart Failure Patients
The Center for Connected Health, a division of Partners HealthCare, completed a study to assess the value of mobile at-home monitoring for patients with heart failure. Findings indicated that at home monitoring can improve patients’ overall condition. Data about this program was presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Forum on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke and described on the AHA website.
The pilot study recruited 150 patients with heart failure who were admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital. The average age of the patients was 70 years. They were randomly assigned to receive standard treatment for heart failure or remote monitoring. Of those initially approached, 40 patients refused participation.
Patients who were randomized to receive the home based monitoring had telemonitoring equipment placed in their homes that tracks vital signs including pulse, blood pressure, and heart rate. Patients were asked to weigh themselves on a daily basis and also completed a questionnaire about their symptoms. Information collected was sent to a nurse using the telemonitoring system. Nurses would call patients at least weekly.
After three months of follow-up, the patients randomized to the monitoring group had a lower rate of readmission to the hospital (31 percent) than the standard care group (38 percent), as well as the patients who chose not to participate (45 percent). The monitored group was also less likely to be readmitted or seen in the emergency room specifically for heart failure than either of the other groups.
Researchers noted that the program achieved the intended goals of improving the lives of patients with heart failure by reducing the incidence of readmission and allowing clinicians to intervene in an early manner. An additional benefit is increased involvement from patients, who gained more insight into their health condition.
In addition, clinicians at Massachusetts General felt that the program was successful. The Connected Cardiac Care program will be expanded this summer, providing remote monitoring for 350 patients.
A report posted last week on HospitalBuyer described legislation recently introduced that will require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reimburse providers for remote monitoring. The bi-partisan bill will initially commence by covering heart failure, as well as cardiac arrhythmia.
May 7, 2008 Related topics: Monitoring, Trends, Diagnostic, Cardiology