It’s Time to Rethink Patient Monitoring

Esteemed clinicians, Frederic Michard, MD and Ashish Khanna, MD address the clinical challenge of blood pressure instability, the prevalence of hypotension and how continuous noninvasive monitoring contributes to timely detection and intervention.

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Imagine a world in which healthcare services monitor population health via wearables, delivering real-time continuous data on everything from movement and sleep to vital signs, such as beat-by-beat blood pressure, heart rate, temperature and respiratory rate.

The data is constantly analyzed by artificial intelligence (AI), creating a perpetually updated picture to guide clinical research and decision making, and flag up early signs of deterioration in any individual’s health, to enable timely intervention and a better likelihood of cure.

As a result of AI powered patient monitoring, hospitals are less crowded, the spread of infection is reduced, medical staff are not overloaded with administrative tasks and can focus more of their time on patient care, and patients receive better outcomes due to the sharing of data gleaned from a world of connected monitoring.

This picture is the way global healthcare is moving, with governments and private investors focusing heavily on the adoption of AI. So how can this technology help us meet the coming healthcare challenges posed by a rising and ageing population, the risk of further pandemics and a growing deficit in medical professionals?

Acute hypotensive events (AHE) are among the most severe threats to intraoperative and postoperative patients. Monitoring blood pressure is, therefore, a critical function for patients, not only in the operating room and ICU but also in the postoperative wards.

An AHE is defined as a drop in the mean arterial pressure below 65 mm Hg, lasting five consecutive minutes of more. It can be the sign of a serious problem, such as bleeding, sepsis, adrenal insufficiency, or cardiac issues. Not surprisingly, it is associated with adverse outcomes in critically ill patients, such as stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure.

There are currently around 400 ketamine infusion clinics in the US and rising at a rate of 30-40% per year. Such is the demand for intravenous ketamine treatment for severe depression, anxiety and chronic pain.

Since the opioid epidemic, the use of analgesics and anesthetics to treat the rising cases of depression and anxiety has been closely monitored and patient safety is understandably paramount. Caretaker Medical’s wireless, continuous patient monitoring is helping ketamine clinics to deliver the best possible patient experience, while streamlining their workflow and ensuring adherence to monitoring protocols.

The United States leads the world in medical research and is recognized for cutting edge hospitals and pioneering groundbreaking medical technologies. Despite these advantages, a high proportion of Americans have difficulty accessing the healthcare they need.

There are several reasons for this: one is that large parts of the country are rural and remote; another is cost; a third is the US has a shortage of family physicians, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians*.

These are all challenges that have caused the healthcare infrastructure to creak and, to a certain extent, fail. But with the research, knowhow and the technology we have, these are problems that can be solved. Today.

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) via the cloud uses digital technology to track, communicate and store the health data of patients from anywhere, in real-time, securely and safely. By making RPM a cornerstone of the healthcare system, we can give patients greater ownership of their personal health, enabling better patient outcomes while reducing the burden on hospitals and medical staff.

We are delighted to officially announce that Caretaker Medical has received GHP’s MedTech 2020 Award for Most Comprehensive Non-Invasive Patient Monitoring Solution.

Background

Contract Research Organizations (CROs) like Celerion conduct drug research studies on behalf of pharmaceutical companies, using cohorts of healthy subjects, who are paid for their participation. A study can last for anything from one day to two months, sometimes longer, and during the trial, subjects’ vital signs are monitored.

This can involve collections of blood, urine or stools and in some trials, subjects will be kept bed-bound throughout. These types of studies are difficult to conduct and are often demanding on the subjects.  The more comfortable the subject experience, the lower the withdrawal rate is going to be, so CROs are always on the lookout for ways to make their trials more comfortable for their subjects.

The World Health Organization’s Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) has been planning for the next influenza pandemic for nearly 70 years, and the recent outbreaks of SARS, MERS and COVID-19 suggest that a future coronavirus pandemic is highly likely too.

Plans to mitigate against these threats focus heavily on the evolving Internet of Things (IoT) and the use of wireless electronic devices in detecting, monitoring and learning about future virus outbreaks. Central among these devices is wireless patient monitoring in a pandemic.

Amid the Covid crisis and the sincere accolades for hospital staff, it may seem like an odd time to talk about hospital performance. The suggestion that there may be room for improvement in the extraordinary efforts of those risking their lives on the clinical front line is bound to touch some very raw nerves. And yet you could argue that there has never been a more pressing need to talk about hospital performance.

Covid has highlighted the need for front line hospital workers to have improved clinical safety, better patient support, more effective equipment and more efficient methodologies and management, not just in a pandemic but in normal circumstances too. At the same time, performance-related funding means hospitals are under pressure to reduce numbers of readmissions and hospital-acquired conditions, and improve the patient experience.