Healthcare providers face several clinical challenges today. 

They cannot simplify life for clinical staff stretched to the limit. They cannot execute faster decision-making due to several clinical complexities. They cannot even reduce variability in care delivery. 

Most workable solution to solve all of these challenges is to integrate patient monitoring with the IT system of hospitals or with a dedicated mobile app. 

This allows healthcare providers to keep an eye on a patient's health remotely and collect & analyze clinical data for data-driven decision-making. 

With a remote patient monitoring system integrated with a mobile app, many hospitals have recorded enhanced patient outcomes and less-burdened staff. 

So, let’s check out its real use cases and how it works. 

What is a remote patient monitoring system?

Round-the-clock patient monitoring is crucial to ensure the overall safety of patients. 

Hospitals and clinics use different patient monitoring devices such as oximeters, glucose monitors or a full-fledged monitoring system to take a reading of patients’ vital body signs.   

In general, a full-fledged monitoring system looks like this. 

However, a major limitation of a full-fledged monitoring system is its accessibility. 

Clinical staff have to be physically present at point of care to get access to the data collected by this system. Same happens with other healthcare monitoring devices. 

Such a system also lacks advanced analytics features as it is not made for that purpose. It only takes readings of vital body signs and presents that data to clinical staff. 

But when we connect such hardware devices used in patient monitoring with software (mobile app), clinical staff can get easy access to data collected by medical devices remotely from their smartphone itself. 

So, in this sense, remote patient monitoring is a set of technologies and clinical practices that facilitate healthcare providers to track real-time clinical data of patients from anywhere in the world using mobile phones. 

Major use case of remote patient monitoring is its advanced alert system. 

If it finds that any vital body sign of a patient is dropping below a certain limit, it sends an alert message to the clinical team for providing early care to avoid a life-threatening situation. 

As you have already found, a mobile app and IoT technology are at the core of remote patient monitoring. So, let’s understand it. 

What is a remote patient monitoring app and why is it important for patient outcomes? 

When it comes to remote patient monitoring, the easiest medium to read data collected by monitoring devices is a mobile app or software. 

Authorized users can anytime see real-time and historic medical data of patients such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen level, glucose level from a mobile app. 

Best part of a remote patient monitoring app is that it processes data and presents data in graphical format for easy understanding of trends. 

If it is equipped with AI and machine learning algorithms, it can even detect early signs of any diseases and alert the clinical staff to provide urgent care before a minor symptom results in a medical emergency. 

A remote patient monitoring app also streamlines in-home care delivery. 

If a person receives in-home care and has dementia, a caretaker can set up a geo-boundary that alerts caretakers if a patient leaves a fixed neighbourhood area. 

In essence, a remote patient monitoring app enables accurate, easy and rapid clinical actions based on data collected by medical devices. 

And this ultimately enhances patient outcomes as it empowers clinical staff to achieve the same!  

How do a patient monitoring system and mobile app work together on IoT technology?

IoT technology is at the core of remote patient monitoring. While you design a remote patient monitoring system, you face major challenges related to IoT only. 

IoT - internet of things - is the technology that makes any hardware device a smart and remotely controllable device with the help of sensors, IoT controllers and software. 

Any IoT device is made out of two major components - IoT sensors that read data and an IoT controller which processes and shares data. 

While setting up a remote health monitoring system, you always require IoT-integrated medical devices. 

At the same time, you also require a user interface in the form of a mobile app or software to read data collected by IoT-integrated medical devices. 

You can also send commands to IoT-integrated medical devices from a mobile app the way you send commands to smart bulbs to change colour or increase brightness from a mobile app. 

This way, it supports bi-directional communication - sending data to a mobile app and receiving commands from a mobile app!  

A patient monitoring system and mobile app work together on IoT technology in 4 steps. 

• IoT sensors of medical devices read clinical data of patients. 
• IoT controller of medical devices processes the data and shares it with a server or database. 
• Front end of a mobile app lets providers read the data. 
• Sophisticated algorithms analyze data and give actionable insights to healthcare providers. 

You should read this: A complete guide on IoT in healthcare 

A few epic remote patient monitoring case studies 

Remote patient monitoring is not a new space. Several hospitals, clinics, and long-term care homes have already deployed it successfully. 

• Goshen Health 

Goshen Health runs telemedicine programs for chronic care including heart disease. 

Patients using its virtual care service can first get a prescription from the physician and if needed, devices and technology are installed and explained to patients at their home by Goshen Home Care specialists. 

From there on, patients regularly need to monitor vital signs and can ask for expert clinical help at any time. 

With the data recorded by medical devices, home care specialists can manage chronic conditions more accurately and this results in remote chronic care management. 

Learning: You can integrate remote patient monitoring with telemedicine solutions and can use it to remotely manage chronic illness as well! 

• Munson Healthcare 

Munson healthcare offers a remote patient monitoring service as a great alternative to doctor’s office and home visits. 

Patients are asked several questions about their current physical and mental condition every morning on the tablet they recieve. 

Later, the patient's response is shared with home care registered nurses who receive it on their online portal. 

Nurses analyze data and suggest next steps to patients. If they suggest medical consultation, patients can talk to a physician from the tablet itself without leaving home. 

• University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) 

UPMC is running a remote patient monitoring program for congestive heart failure. They give a tablet to patients along with a kit of medical devices to record vital body signs. 

Their major goal is to let patients manage their health from the comfort of their homes while still having a nurse monitoring for early identification of worsening conditions. 

Nurses can ask follow-up questions based on the care plan, or forward patient’s questions or concerns to their physician. 

How can we help you build a remote patient monitoring mobile and web-based app? 

We are an Ontario-based healthcare-focused IT company - has been leaving a lasting impact on the US and Canadian healthcare market for more than 7 years. 

With our dedicated IoT research and development team, we are resourceful enough to build the best remote patient monitoring app working on IoT technology. 

We also accommodate compliance specialists who make sure your solution is compliant with all data privacy laws and there are no privacy issues. 

We understand the fact that you require more than just technical help. So, our healthcare business experts help you navigate market complexities while keeping ROI high and financial risk low. 

Being a Canadian company, we are well-aware of the Canadian healthcare system, clinical protocols and compliance requirements. 

This helps us deliver a personalized solution that works perfectly for Canadian consumers of the Canadian healthcare ecosystem. 

We are well-equipped with all 3E - experts, expertise and experience - required to develop an IoT-enabled mobile and web solution without any compatibility issues. 

So, let’s have a productive discussion at your desired time.