With the rise in population, hospitals are getting overcrowded with patients more often than ever. When this happens, hospitals run out of space, making them unable to admit new incoming patients via ambulance. As a result, many hospitals go on diversion—rerouting ambulances to other facilities, sometimes far away. This practice is controversial yet perfectly legal in almost all U.S. states.
Hospital diversion, however, can be very frustrating for both patients and families as it increases travel times and delays critical care. In an emergency, this can even cost a patient their life. For hospitals, diverting ambulances can hurt their reputation and finances. A possible solution to this problem is integrating virtual care and remote patient monitoring (RPM) into existing digital healthcare systems. This can free up hospital space and reduce overcrowding.
What Is Virtual Care?
Virtual care primarily includes telehealth and telemedicine services. As the name suggests, it’s a home-based care model where patients can consult with their doctors and get some diagnostic services remotely. This approach allows patients to receive timely care from the comfort of their homes. It also helps healthcare providers triage patients more effectively, ensuring that only those who need immediate, in-person hospital visits receive them (1)(2).
RPM is a type of telehealth that uses digital medical devices and health technologies to monitor and manage patients from their homes. This includes sensors, wearable devices, mobile health (mHealth) apps, and telehealth platforms. RPM offers a win-win solution for both patients and providers. It lets healthcare providers monitor their patients continuously without the need for in-person visits or hospital stays, while allowing patients to cut down on travel costs, hospital bills, and infection risk (3).
How Virtual Care and Remote Patient Monitoring Can Reduce Hospital Diversion
Combining virtual care and RPM helps healthcare providers stay connected with patients and monitor their health without in-person hospital visits. Virtual care allows telehealth consultations and follow-up appointments remotely, while RPM continuously collects and sends health data like vital signs, glucose levels, and other key metrics (1)(3)(4).
Using both approaches together creates a more resilient and flexible care model, moving healthcare delivery from physical settings to patients’ homes. This model is particularly helpful for those with acute and chronic conditions, as it lets them to bypass unnecessary hospital readmissions. By transmitting critical health data in real-time through RPM, it reduces their need for hospital stays (4). For example, a patient with heart failure can be monitored for early signs of deterioration, allowing for intervention before they need hospitalization (3).
This care model eases the burden on hospital resources and lowers the need to divert patients to other hospitals. Patients get the timely care they need without having to occupy hospital beds, while healthcare providers can monitor multiple patients at once. This can not only free up hospital space but also makes better use of staff and resources. In fact, during peak times or emergencies, this model lets doctors manage patients who don’t need immediate in-person care remotely, saving hospital resources for those who are really in need of them (1-4).
What Are the Limitations of Remote Patient Monitoring?
While RPM is a promising healthcare solution, it does come with some challenges:
- Data Overload: RPM makes healthcare providers handle large amounts of patient data. This is likely to increase their workload as they need to decide which information to use and which to ignore (5).
- Digital Divide: Patients in rural or remote areas may not have a reliable internet connection or the digital health devices needed to support RPM (6).
- Patient Engagement: The success of RPM depends largely on how actively patients engage in their care. However, being proactive can be challenging for those who are elderly, have cognitive impairments, or have low health literacy (7).
- Privacy and Security: Since RPM primarily uses the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) technology to collect, share, and store data, it is vulnerable to cyberattacks (6).
- Software Integration: RPM data needs to be smoothly integrated into existing digital healthcare systems. If not properly integrated, the data may be underutilized, leading to inaccuracies and limited trust in the technology (5, 6, 7).
- Since RPM is part of telehealth, these limitations also apply to virtual care services.
How to Seamlessly Integrate Virtual Care and RPM
The challenges discussed above show why it’s important to partner with experienced technology companies like IT Medical that specialize in digital healthcare solutions. By working with us, hospitals can be better prepared to meet the challenges of today and the future. These partnerships can help streamline technology integration, offer training for staff and patients, and ensure that data is used effectively to improve patient care.
Boost Your Hospital’s Efficiency with IT Medical
Struggling with overcrowding? IT Medical can help!
Our innovative telehealth and remote patient monitoring solutions are designed to optimize your hospital’s resources and free up space.
Want to stop diverting patients to another hospital? Team up with IT Medical to transform how you deliver healthcare.
We offer seamless integration of digital health technologies. Our healthcare solutions will allow you to monitor patients remotely and provide timely care without unnecessary hospital stays.
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References
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Haleem, A., Javaid, M., Singh, R. P., & Suman, R. (2021). Telemedicine for healthcare: Capabilities, features, barriers, and applications. Sensors international, 2, 100117. doi: 10.1016/j.sintl.2021.100117.
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Gellert, G. A., Rasławska-Socha, J., Marcjasz, N., Price, T., Kuszczyński, K., Młodawska, A., … & Orzechowski, P. M. (2023). How Virtual Triage Can Improve Patient Experience and Satisfaction: A Narrative Review and Look Forward. Telemedicine Reports, 4(1), 292-306. doi: 10.1089/tmr.2023.0037.
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Vandenberk, B., & Raj, S. R. (2023). Remote patient monitoring: what have we learned and where are we going?. Current Cardiovascular Risk Reports, 17(6), 103-115. doi: 10.1007/s12170-023-00720-7.
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Whitehead, D., & Conley, J. (2023). The next frontier of remote patient monitoring: hospital at home. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, e42335. doi: 10.2196/42335.
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Abdolkhani, R., Gray, K., Borda, A., & DeSouza, R. (2019). Patient-generated health data management and quality challenges in remote patient monitoring. JAMIA open, 2(4), 471-478. doi: 10.1093/jamiaopen/ooz036. eCollection 2019 Dec.
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Claggett, J., Petter, S., Joshi, A., Ponzio, T., & Kirkendall, E. (2024). An Infrastructure Framework for Remote Patient Monitoring Interventions and Research. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 26, e51234. doi: 10.2196/51234.
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Serrano, L. P., Maita, K. C., Avila, F. R., Torres-Guzman, R. A., Garcia, J. P., Eldaly, A. S., … & Forte, A. J. (2023). Benefits and challenges of remote patient monitoring as perceived by health care practitioners: a systematic review. The Permanente Journal, 27(4), 100–111. doi: 10.7812/TPP/23.022.
