Usefulness of remote monitoring in cardiac implantable device follow-up.

The conventional approach to cardiac implantable device follow-up involves patients attending regularly scheduled in-clinic visits to verify the functionality and safety of the implanted devices. Due to increasing patient volumes, as well as the time, capital, and human resources required, such routine device follow-up contributes a significant resource burden to already overstrained clinics and electrophysiology departments, as well as to patients and caregivers in terms of travel and time. Continuous device status monitoring via remote means (i.e., remote device monitoring) allows clinics the ability to immediately be aware of changes in device functionality to proactively respond to actionable events, and may represent a safe, effective, and cost-saving alternative to conventional in-clinic follow-up programs. The currently available systems to remotely transmit device data combine leading medical and information technology using Web-based networks that promptly provide physicians with data comparable to in-clinic follow-up visits and offer patients a high level of convenience.