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Author: Linda Wilson

Dive Brief:

• Home health agencies are growing their businesses, with 43% of them planning to expand or add services in the next two years, according to a survey of the companies from Definitive Healthcare, which sells data on healthcare providers.
• Telehealth will see a jump as almost 28% of agencies plan to launch those services. Nearly 21% already offer them, according to the report released Tuesday.
• Chronic care is another prominent area for the 159 home health agencies in the study. Nearly 70% now offer specialized services geared toward people with chronic illnesses, treating an average of nine diseases. Other common offerings are therapy services (85.5%) and homemaker services (50.9%), according to the study, which Definitive conducted in October.

Dive Insight:

The home health industry is poised for explosive growth, fueled by an aging population of baby boomers.

CMS also is enabling the industry’s growth and diversity of service offerings. For example, the agency began allowing Medicare Advantage plans to offer non-skilled, in-home support to their chronically ill beneficiaries this year.

As baby boomers become seniors, they “fall within the very age demographic most frequently suffering from chronic disease states and conditions, like Alzheimer’s, cardiac diseases, COPD, and diabetes,” Jason Krantz, CEO of Definitive Healthcare, said in a statement.

Home health agencies are responding to this demand with a variety of telehealth services, the study found. Nearly 73% offer remote patient monitoring with clinical grade devices and nearly 42% plan to add or expand this service in the next two years.

The majority (66.7%) offer remote monitoring with consumer devices, while nearly 35% plan to launch or expand this service in the next two years. Half of the home health agencies surveyed offer two-way video or webcam services and about a third plan to add or expand the service.

Other technology services home health agencies offer include: email (42.4%), medication management technology (42.4%), image sharing technology (36.4%), mobile apps for e-visits (33.3%), group video conferencing (33.3%) and population health tools such as texting (27.3%).

They’re planning to add or expand in a variety of areas including palliative care, veteran-specific care and mental health services.

When asked about the top challenges they face, hiring qualified staff ranked the highest among the survey respondents at home health agencies (61.6%), followed by profitability (42%), and an uncertain regulatory climate (34%).

Home health agencies are not the only ones in the industry expanding their services. Health systems also are moving into home care. The idea is to move patients who do not require continuous monitoring out of costly hospital settings sooner.

For example, Nashville-based Contessa Health, a provider of at-home care for patients recovering from non-life-threatening conditions, has inked contracts with Ascension, CommonSpirit Health, and Highmark Health.

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There was a time when people who were ill kept to their sick beds at home, but 20th-century advances in medical technology made it necessary (and beneficial) for many people to stay in the hospital for constant monitoring. However, further leaps and bounds in tech are now making it possible for some patients to have the best of both worlds by returning to the comfort of their homes while still having their vitals checked, thanks to remote patient monitoring.

Using monitoring equipment, a healthcare provider can keep tabs on a patient’s clinical data. Glucose meters, ECGs and blood pressure monitors are among the most common types of RPM equipment used, but the array of available technologies is rapidly expanding.

What Patients Can Benefit From Remote Patient Monitoring?

A wide variety of conditions and health concerns can be monitored with RPM technologies, as SearchHealthIT attests, including:

• Diabetes

• Heart conditions

• Dementia

• Substance abuse

• Infertility

• Weight gain/loss

There are currently devices, surveillance monitors and programs that can help with all these issues — by tracking vital signs, alerting healthcare professionals of any problems and empowering patients to monitor themselves.

Modern Technology Makes It Possible

Cheaper, portable machines and devices that can be used at home, combined with the power of digital technology and the ubiquity of smartphones, are making remote patient monitoring a reality. Right now, a patient can get a stand-alone blood pressure cuff to use at home, wirelessly connect it to an app on their phone to get a reading and then send the results to their doctor.

Sophisticated cloud-sharing platforms are also a key part of remote patient monitoring. Some of them enable a provider to offer an RPM program for patients because it provides support for integrating numerous devices and allows healthcare professionals to manage patient data. Dedicated patient portals can also empower patients to take more control by both accessing and uploading their health information and images (e.g., X-rays).

A Glimpse Of Some Of The Latest RPM Technology

mTelehealth Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) Solutions Powered by aTouchAway simplifies the complexity of managing the care of patients with multiple chronic conditions or complicated care needs.

aTouchAway puts the patient at the center of care connecting the care team with a single tap.  The healthcare system can monitor patients anytime, from anywhere and interact with them more frequently.  In fact, it is easy to use for even the least technical users, plus, aTouchAway is fully secure (HIPAA & PHIPA) and scales seamlessly.

The mTelehealth Virtual Exam Solution Powered by TytoCare is the Healthcare industry’s first all-in-one modular device and telehealth platform. The virtual exam solution provides on-demand, remote medical exams, anytime, anywhere.  Essentially, it is a mobile health platform and device, allowing any organization to perform store-and-forward physical exams/assessments as well as live virtual exams.  The mTelehealth Virtual Exam Solution captures and records comprehensive data for real-time diagnosis and facilitates the sharing of results with other health professionals.

Presenting the TytoClinic (available with the mTelehealth Remote Patient Monitoring solution)…

It’s NOT just a telemedicine or “video visit” platform, but it IS a medical-grade, FDA-cleared, suite of devices that replaces a myriad of bulky, costly, “legacy” medical equipment with a small, compact, hand-held solution that delivers sounds of the abdomen, heart, and lungs (Stethoscope), a patient’s heart rate, clinical quality images of the throat, skin, and ear (Otoscope), and body temperature (Thermometer).

EpxCOPD by Epharmix is a tool designed to reduce the number of hospitalizations of COPD patients by checking in daily on patients’ breathing status. MedCityNews reports that the tool has helped prevent one hospitalization for every nine patients using it.

Managing diabetes can be very challenging, and a new system called FORA GTel offers blood glucose and blood ketone cellular monitoring. The system facilitates communication between patients and doctors and makes it easy for both parties to access and share real-time data.

AT&T and Anelto Health have collaborated on a new two-way cellular hub called HomeAssure, which is designed specifically for seniors, including those who may not be comfortable with smartphones and tablets.

As Home Healthcare News explains, “The hub works with vital sign monitors and activity trackers to decipher whether seniors are at risk for a fall or exhibiting any other troubling health characteristics … if a senior using the device loses several pounds in a short period of time or has low blood oxygen levels, caregivers are sent an alert and can quickly connect with patients through the device.”

In an article on some of the most promising companies in RPM technology, Business Insider highlights ResMed, a company that it describes as “a leader in cloud-connected devices to manage sleep apnea, asthma, and disordered breathing.” ResMed’s myAir app allows users of its CPAP machines to track key metrics while patients are sleeping so they can get personalized coaching.

Of course, some patients require assistance for more than one condition. Certain applications provide multiple telemonitoring options for a host of ailments including tools for monitoring blood pressure, temperature, glucose, weight, ECG and more, along with the technical capabilities to log and communicate data digitally.

Benefits Of Remote Patient Monitoring

The advantages of implementing remote patient monitoring include convenience and lowering healthcare costs, whether it’s preventing hospitalization or enabling doctors to manage their time better. But it is also a way to increase patient follow-through, which can be problematic for a number of reasons, such as forgetfulness, lack of awareness, or perhaps being located in a rural area far from medical professionals.

In a Health Tech Magazine article, Jen A. Miller provides an instructive example, explaining that only 30% to 40% of women with pregnancy-associated hypertension show up for their four-to-six-week follow-up after having their baby. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center devised an RPM solution by giving women a blood pressure cuff that worked with a smartphone app, and in their pilot program, 88% of participants ended up returning for their six-week visit.

More RPM In The Future

A Consumer Technology Association survey already shows that 68% of physicians surveyed “strongly intend” to use RPM technology to monitor patients in the future. As the technology continues to advance and patients become more comfortable with using it, the “home hospital” is likely to become more and more commonplace in patients’ lives. If you are a medical technology company or healthcare organization, this is a trend to take note of and keep close tabs on.

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