Page 1 Case Studies in Telehealth Adoption Centura Heal that Home Telehealth as the Standard of Care

28 FALL 2013 VoLume 27 / NumBeR 4 www.himss.org
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FOCUS mobile health

30 Days to Make a

Difference

Evaluating the 30-Day Effects of a Comprehensive

Remote Patient Monitoring, Shortened Provider

Feedback Interval, and Patient Engagement and

Education Program on Hypertensive Patients

By Ram Dandillaya MD, FACC, FCCP; Michael Neumann, MD; Scot Anderson, RN, BSN,

MBA; Dong Li, MD, PhD; Marco Wohnig; and Brad Tritle, CIPP

luetooth-enabled blood
pressure devices communicated
ABSTRACT vitals to gateways, which then

Facilitated by a combination of remote patient monitoring using mobile and B transmitted these measurements
wireless devices, and patient engagement, coaching and education, the average to monitoring software in real-time via the
systolic blood pressures for 34 patients dropped by 20 points in week four, mobile network. Medical staff in the Tele-
continuing to a 30 point drop in week five. Physicians’ use of remote patient monitoring Service Center not only moni-
monitoring coupled with a Telemonitoring Service Center extended their care tored daily measurements, but facilitated a
into the home, creating a near-real-time feedback loop that facilitated shortened telephone-based, weekly patient question-
naire and patient education session, and
provider feedback intervals, and more precise medication therapy. Due to kept providers apprised of the patients’
weekly educational sessions performed by the Telemonitoring Service Center, status. Providers could then respond as
patients felt they better understood the hypertension and its associated risks and necessary to make changes in treatment,
management principles that would help them to better self-manage their condition including medications, to more quickly
on an ongoing basis. bring the hypertension under control.
KeyWoRDS By extending the point of care to the
patient’s home or other location via mobile
Quality improvement, self-management, remote patient monitoring, Triple Aim, health (mHealth) networks and devices,
hypertension, patient education, medication, mobile, telemedicine, home care. engaging and educating the patient regard-
ing the management of her condition tele-
phonically, and facilitating near real-time
changes in treatment, it is believed programs
such as this are applicable to a variety of con-
ditions, and will lead to increased healthcare