Remote Patient Monitoring; Have you heard about a service like this?
Hello all, my mom is 72 years old and she is suffering from chronic disease (BP, Diabetic, etc.) and at times she forgets to take the medication. She wanted to stay alone at her place as she is more comfortable there.
I recently came across a remote patient monitoring company that checks all the vitals, medicine intake, etc. Looks like they have nurses review the vitals and other information on a 24/7 basis and will only contact me, if there is an emergency. They also have fall detectors and monitor my mom's daily activity. They will also setup Doctor appointment, with my mom's doctor, if they see any abnormalities. This does not include any in-home care. If this works as advertised, this will be a godsend for me. The great thing is that, I can also login to the portal and review all her information as when I want.
Have you heard about a service like this? What should I look for and what is the going rate for this type of remote patient monitoring service. Their basic charge is around $85/month. Is this reasonable? From my point of view, this is great as this relieves me of taking care of her on an hourly basis and can attend to her, as and when she needs help. This way I can also keep my job.
I’d love to hear your feedback. Thanks.
7 Answers
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I think when the machine asks the answers (which are “Yes” or “No” the person selects Yes or No & before they move to the next question.
I've been trying to think how we could use something like this, but thus far the problem is that the little devices run off and hide after they're used, and it sometimes takes a few days to find them. I think sometimes they turn into mechanical bears and hibernate all winter.
I've thought about having some kind of system like stores have, with tags that alarm when something is run through a scanner.
What would be great for seniors, I think, is a scanner that can locate missing glasses, hearing aids, checkbooks, and anything else that likes to play hide and go seek with older people.
I laugh when I see these Google (or is it Amazon??) devices that say good morning, get weather reports, and provide whatever other information someone can get by him or herself.
What I NEED is a device that locates medical devices that run away and hide. Forget about a talking weather machine.
The person must be able to take their BP using an automatic cuff (provided). The company provides a cable which connects the machine to their specific glucometer (must inform the company which meter is used so they send the correct cable).
The person needs an order from their PCP or specialist as the provider must set parameters specific to the person as well as the company needs a point person (PCP, et al) to call and alert when the person’s vital sign values need attention.
A scale can be ordered for weight check thus the person needs to be able to stand on the scale - as far as I know it is not wheelchair compatible. But if weight is not a concern or the person cannot stand on the scale, you can still order the other information to be monitored.
The device is monitored remotely via a phone line or even a wireless network. Then the company provides reports to the ordering provider.
My patients love it & so do the providers. Calls are made by the company to the user to confirm data is accurate, and the company, after validating any abnormals, will notify the doctor who then evaluates & decides what to do (look for trends, ask the person to see them or go to the ER if the person’s weight goes up, for example, in CHF or just watch for now, etc).
I do not know the cost, but $85/month sounds about right. Each person should call their insurance company’s customer service department to check for coverage as many do not pay thus its out of pocket. I am pretty certain Medicare doesn’t pay but worth a try.
Nothing stays on their body with this monitor. Some people need assistance with the cuff & checking BS.
Hope this helps!
If someone just needed to be reminded to take their pills and then they would be compliant and take them, that would be great. So I can see where for some patients this could be a valuable service and a lot less expensive than an aid.
Like everything with care taking, what works today might not work next month but I think I would have tried it for my aunt at an earlier time. I can watch her on the camera and talk her through taking her pills etc and it's still hard to do at this point in her current condition.
I do use home health for a weekly check and daily aids that take her vitals and give her meds etc., so I probably wouldn't use this service now but would love to know more about it.
With new aids I always have to go through a training to make sure they understand about her pulse and bp etc and how to chart it and which medication to give. This would be much simpler it sounds like and take less time if the patient is compliant.
Let us know how it goes if you try it.
How would they ensure that meds are taken? If they called her, would she remember to take them?
Just wondering how all this would actually be implemented.
I'm not familiar with this kind of remote monitoring and have no insight into the cost.