Top 7 Chronic Conditions You Can Manage with Remote Patient Monitoring

It is disheartening to note that chronic diseases are a concern to the high numbers of Americans every year. According to the survey and reports, more than 60 percent of adults living in the U. S. have a chronic condition while 40 percent of these have multiple chronic conditions. Notably, majority of deaths, approximately seventy percent is as a result of chronic and mental ailments. 

 Chronic diseases, for instance, have a very high cost implication that is borne by the health care system. Overall, an estimated $3. Currently, a staggering $ 8 trillion on healthcare is being expended annually in US where majority of (90%) of the expenditure is directed to cater for chronic health and mental disorders. 

 It may also be interesting to know that although the figures vary, treatment of chronic diseases also creates high financial loads for insurance payers, as well as patients and their families. 

 RPM can ease the care of patients with chronic diseases. 

 Managing chronic illnesses entails a lot of financial resources and many years of the patients’ time. Luckily, however, research has shown that RPM programs can assist with Chronic Condition Management and ongoing metric assessment, feedback and communication. 

 Below, you can find the list of the most expensive chronic diseases that can be controlled via RPM, based on the Direct Medical Cost on the National Level. In other words, expenses or outlay paid to purchase products and avail of services relating to a specific disease. However, there are some other costs which are not included in these such as days off work etc. 

 Prediabetes – $43. 4 Billion 

 ADA revealed that the total expenditure involving prediabetes across the country is about $43. 4 billion. This means that for the American of adult age with prediabetes, the cost expense comes to half a thousand of the US Dollar per year. About one-third of all adults in the United States have prediabetes. 

 As a result, patients with prediabetes are as ideal candidates for RPM as much as diabetic patients. That is because this type of monitoring is not only used to control prediabetes but also prevent diabetes in the future, this gives the patient a practical reason why they have to stick to the reading timetable.

The most frequent method of reaching out using RPM for prediabetes control is by the integration of intelligent connected weight scale into a digital Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). These scales provide providers more greater real-time information for patient weight control; it can help providers monitor their patient’s weight loss progress, give tips or recommendations for patients to enhance weight control between visits, and create a more comprehensive trendline to be utilized during a visit.

 Combined with other typically recommended diabetes prevention strategies, RPM has demonstrated its efficacy in helping the patients to loss their weight, boost their activity levels and save on patient healthcare costs. 

 COPD – $49 Billion 

 As supported by table 1 projected by the CDC, costs associated to having COPD summarised amounted to $49. 0 billion in 2020. Heart disease is another illness that is a main contributor of death in the U. S. , and it is said that about 15 percent of all deaths are as a result of chronic lower respiratory diseases. COPD affects about 7 million Americans (6. 4 percent) with more cases being reported of women than men. 

 Though, there is no cure or remedy available to reverse this disease, RPM can be useful to take care of the symptoms. 

 SpO2 is another vital vital sign that can be measured by use of pulse oximeter devices and shows decompensation of COPD. Offering pulse oximetry based RPM solutions, alters the traditional model of COPD care thereby educate the patient on the status of their condition, and the health care provider develop a more meaningful interaction with the patient in period when the patient would benefit from extra coaching and monitoring. 

 Recent research evidence shows that COPD patients perceived RPM to be user friendly and are willing to incorporate the connected pulse oximeters during the course of pulmonary rehabilitation. Further, an oximetry-supported self- management for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease pilot study revealed that the patients experienced more awareness of their condition and self-management. 

 Thus, it is clear that when pulmonary rehabilitation programmes emphasize education, peer support and exercise, pulse oximeters offer the perfect objective measure of pulmonary status.

Heart Failure – $53 Billion 

 The groups do not agree on the diagnostic criteria, which define overall cost of the treatment of heart failure. Nonetheless, according to the Journal of the American Heart Association total direct medical costs through heart failure alone were estimated at $21 billion in the year 2012 and are likely to reach $53 billion in 2030. About 6. Heart failure compound for two million adults in the U. S. 

 The most enlistment for heart failure patients to get an exacerbation is when they have problems with shortness of breath due to overload in the pulmonary and lower extremity. The most requirements for heart failure treatment at home include taking the patients’ weight each morning, and a sudden rise in which can be an indication of increased fluid retention. However, the challenge for many of the patients will be able to abide by the daily weighings and medications. 

 To that effect, RPM equips patients with the ability to independently handle heart failure at their homes. While relying on patients and their families to take daily weights, connected RPM offers an opportunity for the providers to call heart failure patients and change medications on their own to reduce the number of avoidable heart failure hospitalizations. 

 As indicated by the systematically reviewed and meta-analysed work, RPM programs are beneficial for patients with heart failure as evidenced by lower mortality rates, and higher satisfaction of care. Moreover, patients evidenced a decrease in the number of rehospitalization. 

 Chronic Kidney Disease – It was $81. 8 Billion 

 Mean total Medicare expenditure in CKD was over 81 dollars. 7500 dollars or 5. 8 billion Euros in 2018, or 23700 dollars per each person of the world. Using data from the same survey, researchers found that 15% of adults in the U. S have CKD. Atherosclerosis is a silent disease, and 90% of adults with CKD are unaware that they have it.

The Kidney Health Initiative therefore assembled a work group of specialists to reflect on the current applicability of telehealth and how, in the backdrop of this definition of telemedicine, it can “enhance self-sufficiency, perceived quality of life, and outcomes in a manner that is more consistent with patient and family expectations. 

 This is through RPM where patients can measure their blood pressure without the need to visit a health facility. Also, patients can be empowered with glucometers in order to delay the progression of the accompanying diabetes. Furthermore, the idea of connected weight scales may help to encourage the patients to lose weight to the desired amount that will not affect the kidneys. All together, the providers are able to incorporate these different RPM capabilities to make treatment plans unique to every patient there are to ensure the patients with chronic diseases do not worsen their health. 

 Wertal & Wertal (2020) showed that constant weekly vital sign assessment along with subjective wellness appraisal with recipients of the encircling aging services caused a reduction in improper use of the cardinal apprehension units and readm? ssions concerning seniors groups of people. 

 Hypertension – $91. 4 billion 

 According to a cross-sectional study by the NIH approximately the direct medical cost of managing hypertension in the country is $ 91. 4 billion. 32 percent of adults in the U. S. suffer from hypertension and this number is increasing each year. It appears that hypertension is an independent risk factor for heart diseases and strokes and these are two major causes of death in the USA. 

 In remote blood pressure monitoring the status and acute blood pressure can be seen by the patients as well as the providers. Referral providers can then sort out contacting patients that may be on the verge of hypertensive crises. Furthermore, the providers can get a clue of which patients could benefit from long-term management of the blood pressure. 

 Research shows that enhancing control of blood pressure significantly reduces cardiovascular risk by 20-25 % of a heart attack,35 to 40% of stroke, and 50 % of heart failure. RPM enhances control of hypertension, reduces the number of anti-hypertensive medications and reduces inertia in medication handling. 

Obesity – $147 Billion 

 According to CDC, this is comparative of $147 billion for medical expenditure on obesity. Some diseases which are associated with Obesity include heart diseases, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer. Obesity affects more than 40% of adults in the U. S. 

 Weight loss and regaining the lost weight is of course not a small feat at all. Again, the connected weight scales provide the patients with educational reinforcement to monitor the weights and visually with the overweight trends over time. The RPM programs reduce the barriers of patients’ compliance with the daily weigh-ins, writing down such numbers, and presenting them and discussing them with the provider on the matter with regards to weight loss. Moreover, the weight trend data gathered can be fed to a database that allow the providers to contact and establish a connection with the patients who are off track of the weight set goal. 

 These findings show why patients who use connected weight scales daily tend to lose more weight. Furthermore, telehealth techniques like mobile phone based coaching and videoconference are potential means for providing important weight loss to the obese patients. 

 Diabetes – $327 Billion 

 According to ADA, the approximate cost of direct medical expenditure for diabetes across the United States is $ 327 billion every year. Diabetes patients spend $16552 on average annually on medical expenses out of which $9601 are related to diabetes. Approximately 9 percent of Americans have diabetes. 

 RPM can assist diabetic population in preventing acute life threatening events as well as general comprehensive management of the diabetes condition. 

 When patients monitor their blood sugar levels, the clinical staff can be notified of high and low values and call the patient and avoid poor outcomes including ED and hospitalization. Moreover, remote monitoring also enables the providers to be able to modify medicines through telemedicine encounters. To enable the patients and their clinicians to have a graphic and holistic view of the glycemic control and its prevention of serious long term consequences of the disease.

A few pre-studies prove that RPM can help the post-discharge patients with type 2 diabetes. Patients have also been able to achieve better health outcome while at home using RPM equipments such as reduced A1c levels. 

 Chronic Disease Self Management: Strategies for Simplifying Care in the Twenty-First Century 

 Patients with chronic ailments may require long term management, and hence the costs are usually high. Remote Patient Monitoring is a tool that may assist in engaging the patient to the level of compliance necessary with chronic conditions. 

 Typically, patients are required to monitor their physiologic measurements, record them in paper-based templates, wait for a doctor’s appointment, and then report their outcomes in a scripted manner to the doctor. This is a very time consuming task which can lead to mistakes and a high likelihood of non compliance. 

 Instead, RPM makes it easier to address them through creating a chance to bring the management of a range of chronic illnesses into the present. With downloadable and transportable, simple to use, connected devices patients can participate in their care programs. This means that with frequent encounters or interactions, the physicians might foster better changes which in the long run are beneficial to the patient and less expensive treatments are avoided. 

 1 The figures are based based on the most current available Third Party Statistics. However, numbers regarding such fact might differ from source to source, involving measurement approach or source date, Kenned arising from the fact that final data is obtain from the specific governing association only.