Louisville-based ScionHealth system, the combined LifePoint Health and Kindred Healthcare delivery network, and Cadence, a New York-based healthcare technology company, are implementing a remote patient monitoring platform starting with 18 community hospitals in 12 states. 

WHY IT MATTERS

With RPM, ScionHealth patients with chronic conditions could spend more time at home with their families, or doing what they love where they live, instead of heading back to the hospital or doctor's office, the provider organization said.

The goals of the partnership with Cadence are to manage chronic care patients with conditions that are too hard to treat alone beyond the emergency room and hospital, as well as to improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

The intervention-as-needed platform will provide more personalized clinical care for thousands of patients by collecting, analyzing and responding to their daily vitals.

With smart devices, patients check their daily vital signs at home, including blood pressure, heart rate, pulse oximeter, glucose levels and weight, and it's reported to their care teams through the Cadence Care in Sync platform. 

The platform tracks and analyzes these frequent measurements, along with symptoms and health record data.

Cadence clinicians are also available to ScionHealth patients through telehealth to provide another layer of care.

The RPM will first support managing hypertension, heart failure, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. With Cadence's digital infrastructure, more conditions and devices for monitoring patients can be added.

While the rollout begins with support for ambulatory patients, ScionHealth plans to expand the remote chronic care management service to all of its 79 hospitals in 25 states.

THE LARGER TREND

After the pandemic began, physicians started to see patients with chronic conditions deteriorate, and many did not have access to remote patient monitoring tools to help prevent it.

Diagnostic devices, remote patient monitoring platforms and telehealth helped patients stay in communication with care teams and reduce hospital readmissions. 

However, while wearables empower telehealth and remote patient monitoring, health researchers warn they could also become a social determinant of health. Inclusive use of biomarkers in clinical practice requires some strategy, the National Institutes of Health warned in April.

In its research brief, NIH said widespread adoption is going to require a high-touch approach and public and/or private investment in devices.

Wider deployment of wearables among chronic care populations may also press clinicians. They may require additional training to encourage patients to modify their behaviors for the devices and ongoing monitoring and feedback makes for a heavier workload, according to one study report.

ON THE RECORD

"Our partnership with Cadence offers consistent, proactive monitoring outside of the clinic, enabling early interventions if and when necessary to improve a patient's overall health and wellbeing," Dr. Dean French, chief medical officer at ScionHealth, said in a prepared statement.

"Cadence's dedicated clinical care team and technology will extend the care of ScionHealth's clinicians, providing more responsive, personalized care to every patient," added Chris Altchek, CEO and founder of Cadence. 

Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.