Remote monitoring cuts hospitalizations for heart failure patients

Remote monitoring for heart failure patients resulted in fewer hospitalizations and deaths than a similar group of patients receiving usual care during a four-month study, but the benefits didn't last beyond the study period, according to an article published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

Researchers from Partners HealthCare Center for Connected Health and elsewhere sought to evaluate the effect of a heart failure telemonitoring program, Connected Cardiac Care Program (CCCP), on hospitalization and mortality in a retrospective database review of medical records of patients with heart failure.

In the study, 174 control patients receiving care at Massachusetts General Hospital were matched by age and gender with 174 patients enrolled in CCCP.

During the four months, CCCP participants used connected devices to monitor factors such as blood pressure, heart rate, weight and blood oxygen saturation, and answered questions about heart failure-related symptoms on a touch-screen computer each day.

Nurses monitored their data for unusual readings. They also counseled patients in biweekly educational sessions by phone on topics such as diet, exercise and proper monitoring.

After 30 days, about half as many CCCP patients had been hospitalized as control patients (24 compared to 49). After 60 days, it was about two-thirds as many (43 vs. 68). And at the end of the four-month program, CCCP patients had three-quarters as many readmissions (75 vs. 97), and five CCCP patients had died compared to 12 in the control group.

After eight months, however, the CCCP group had more hospitalizations, but still a lower mortality rate. Neither follow-up figure was statistically significant.

Researchers suggest several reasons for that, including that some CCCP patients might not have developed the necessary disease self-management skills during just four months. They say more research is needed on the optimal duration of a monitoring program.

Heart failure patients are among those most likely to be hospital super users, according to a study from Pennsylvania's Health Care Cost Containment Council. The study found that super users tend to have a combination of complicated healthcare needs and limited primary and specialty care access.

Meanwhile, market intelligence firm Tractica predicts a skyrocketing market for home health technologies such as remote monitoring equipment, with the number of users expected to grow to 78.5 billion by 2020.

To learn more:
- read the study