BACKGROUND: Remote monitoring for heart failure (HF) has had mixed and heterogeneous effects across studies, necessitating further evaluation of remote monitoring systems within specific healthcare systems and their patient populations. "Care Beyond Walls and Wires," a wireless remote monitoring program to facilitate patient and care team co-management of HF patients, served by a rural regional medical center, provided the opportunity to evaluate the effects of this program on healthcare utilization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty HF patients admitted to Flagstaff Medical Center (Flagstaff, AZ) participated in the project. Many of these patients lived in underserved and rural communities, including Native American reservations. Enrolled patients received mobile, broadband-enabled remote monitoring devices. A matched cohort was identified for comparison. RESULTS: HF patients enrolled in this program showed substantial and statistically significant reductions in healthcare utilization during the 6 months following enrollment, and these reductions were significantly greater compared with those who declined to participate but not when compared with a matched cohort. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this project indicate that a remote HF monitoring program can be successfully implemented in a rural, underserved area. Reductions in healthcare utilization were observed among program participants, but reductions were also observed among a matched cohort, illustrating the need for rigorous assessment of the effects of HF remote monitoring programs in healthcare systems.
BACKGROUND: Remote monitoring for heart failure (HF) has had mixed and heterogeneous effects across studies, necessitating further evaluation of remote monitoring systems within specific healthcare systems and their patient populations. "Care Beyond Walls and Wires," a wireless remote monitoring program to facilitate patient and care team co-management of HF patients, served by a rural regional medical center, provided the opportunity to evaluate the effects of this program on healthcare utilization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty HF patients admitted to Flagstaff Medical Center (Flagstaff, AZ) participated in the project. Many of these patients lived in underserved and rural communities, including Native American reservations. Enrolled patients received mobile, broadband-enabled remote monitoring devices. A matched cohort was identified for comparison. RESULTS: HF patients enrolled in this program showed substantial and statistically significant reductions in healthcare utilization during the 6 months following enrollment, and these reductions were significantly greater compared with those who declined to participate but not when compared with a matched cohort. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this project indicate that a remote HF monitoring program can be successfully implemented in a rural, underserved area. Reductions in healthcare utilization were observed among program participants, but reductions were also observed among a matched cohort, illustrating the need for rigorous assessment of the effects of HF remote monitoring programs in healthcare systems.
Entities:
Keywords:
cardiology/cardiovascular; home health monitoring; mobile health; telecardiology; telemedicine
Authors: Véronique L Roger; Alan S Go; Donald M Lloyd-Jones; Emelia J Benjamin; Jarett D Berry; William B Borden; Dawn M Bravata; Shifan Dai; Earl S Ford; Caroline S Fox; Heather J Fullerton; Cathleen Gillespie; Susan M Hailpern; John A Heit; Virginia J Howard; Brett M Kissela; Steven J Kittner; Daniel T Lackland; Judith H Lichtman; Lynda D Lisabeth; Diane M Makuc; Gregory M Marcus; Ariane Marelli; David B Matchar; Claudia S Moy; Dariush Mozaffarian; Michael E Mussolino; Graham Nichol; Nina P Paynter; Elsayed Z Soliman; Paul D Sorlie; Nona Sotoodehnia; Tanya N Turan; Salim S Virani; Nathan D Wong; Daniel Woo; Melanie B Turner Journal: Circulation Date: 2011-12-15 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: Friedrich Koehler; Sebastian Winkler; Michael Schieber; Udo Sechtem; Karl Stangl; Michael Böhm; Herbert Boll; Gert Baumann; Marcus Honold; Kerstin Koehler; Goetz Gelbrich; Bridget-Anne Kirwan; Stefan D Anker Journal: Circulation Date: 2011-03-28 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: Sarwat I Chaudhry; Jennifer A Mattera; Jeptha P Curtis; John A Spertus; Jeph Herrin; Zhenqiu Lin; Christopher O Phillips; Beth V Hodshon; Lawton S Cooper; Harlan M Krumholz Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2010-11-16 Impact factor: 91.245
Authors: Joseph S Ross; Jersey Chen; Zhenqiu Lin; Héctor Bueno; Jeptha P Curtis; Patricia S Keenan; Sharon-Lise T Normand; Geoffrey Schreiner; John A Spertus; Maria T Vidán; Yongfei Wang; Yun Wang; Harlan M Krumholz Journal: Circ Heart Fail Date: 2009-11-10 Impact factor: 8.790
Authors: Robyn A Clark; Kerena A Eckert; Simon Stewart; Susan M Phillips; Julie J Yallop; Andrew M Tonkin; Henry Krum Journal: Med J Aust Date: 2007-05-07 Impact factor: 7.738
Authors: Emily Seto; Kevin J Leonard; Joseph A Cafazzo; Jan Barnsley; Caterina Masino; Heather J Ross Journal: J Med Internet Res Date: 2012-02-16 Impact factor: 5.428
Authors: Matthew James Fraser; Trish Gorely; Chris O'Malley; David J Muggeridge; Oonagh M Giggins; Daniel R Crabtree Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-02-17 Impact factor: 3.390