Advertisment

Patients get remote monitoring dose in Montreal

author-image
CIOL Bureau
Updated On
New Update

MONTREAL:For patients of the CSSS PDL living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), diabetes, hypertension and congestive heart failure, there's something new in store. Beginning in September, 2009, these patients will be provided with TELUS’s Remote Patient Monitoring solution.

Advertisment

The purpose is to enable patients to take more control over the management of their condition from the security and privacy of their home environment. The goal of the five year project is to improve services to patients while reducing ER visits and in-patient hospitalizations, as a press note shares.

Approximately 500 patients per year will benefit from tailored education through dynamic questioning about their vital signs, medications and signs and symptoms. Each patient will receive touch-sensitive terminal and medical devices to collect and transmit routine monitoring data between their home and their healthcare team.

The team of clinicians, comprised of multidisciplinary professionals from various sites, will monitor, interpret and analyze the data received from each patient and coordinate appropriate action using RPM’s workflow and clinical notes capabilities associated to the patient’s health record.

Remote Patient Monitoring has many benefits. A clinical study conducted by the University of Montreal HEC in 2004 followed 30 patients with severe COPD. At the end of the six month study, unlike the control group, hospitalizations for the monitored group were down by 83 per cent; home visits were down 60 per cent; and a net savings of over 12 per cent was achieved. Additionally, patients reported improved medication compliance, enhanced autonomy and feelings of security.

“With the number of patients we are treating for one or more chronic diseases, we need to find a solution that is standardized on best practices, engages and empowers the patient to participate in their therapeutic plan and reduces costs per episode to our healthcare system,” said Andre´ Gagnie`re, General Manager, CSSS PDL.