Remote patient monitoring is a modern approach of leveraging technology to monitor and assess patient conditions. Because of its simplicity and effectiveness, remote patient monitoring has become a regular aspect of care delivery for healthcare providers all over the world in recent years. By allowing physicians to monitor patients in real time, remote patient-monitoring equipment offers a glimpse into the future of the Internet of Things in healthcare.

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) hardware and software solutions may be the most significant and influential of the many evolving technologies in the healthcare business. This technology is transforming prolonged healthcare by saving patient’s money, minimizing doctor visits, and empowering healthcare professionals with powerful tools for diagnosing and treating patients. Software and hardware developers are overcoming major difficulties to strengthen the capabilities and effectiveness of these tools as they evolve.

According to a report, 88 percent of healthcare providers have invested in, or are planning to invest in, RPM technologies and services. The expanding age of the baby boomer generation, as well as an increase in chronic disease among the American population, are driving up the demand.

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) has the potential to dramatically revolutionize patient care. If extensively adopted, it will transform the patient experience and enable healthcare services to manage their resources more effectively, reducing pressure on healthcare systems all across the world.

Challenges of Implementing Remote Patient Monitoring

However, RPM adoption will not be possible without some challenges. Let us look at some of the most significant challenges to RPM technology adoption that are yet to be addressed.

• Data Security

Robust data management protocols, and unbreakable security protocols are essential for data transmitted over any RPM platform to satisfy the standards required by healthcare.

Large portions of the data management process could be handled by third parties, exposing patients’ data at danger of being stolen. Hospitals have similar concerns, since they risk integrating a third-party system that might be hacked, jeopardizing their patients’ privacy and safety.

• Systems Integration

The development time for medical patient monitors is significant because getting into market requires numerous standard lab tests and approvals. By enabling connectivity to a range of cloud vendors, it is possible to enable in-home patient monitoring data transfer with minimal integration effort. The space for onboard memory cards can be increased by uploading patient data directly to the cloud.

Incorporating a remote monitoring platform to the mix would need to be handled with utmost caution in order to prevent compromising existing patient records and ensuring that any future system migrations would not conflict with the RPM platform.

Moreover, wearables and sensor manufacturers do not follow to a single data standard. Hence, a remote health monitoring solution must be integrated into an existing software infrastructure within a healthcare organization.

• Secure Data Delivery

Robust security is essential for medical sensor patches and portable patient monitors with wireless connectivity. Patient information provided to nurse stations or doctors’ clinics is confidential. Data theft is a major concern in this scenario.

From patient to doctor, a plethora of security protocols safeguard intellectual property and data. These countermeasures should include support for preventing attacks and ensuring secure patient data transmissions.

• Battery Life

One of the key considerations while purchasing portable and wearable patient monitors is regarding the battery like as they function with battery. Battery life is essential as patient monitor’s measure and monitor continuously. It’s critical to provide greater functionality while delivering power more effectively and for a longer period of time in a tight place. Standby, sleep, power save, hibernate, and shutdown are all vital functions for reducing power consumption and increasing battery life.

• Patient Safety

Patient safety is a top priority in the medical world. To promote patient safety, portable multiparameter patient monitors evaluate vital signs and use power and data isolation.

• Portability

Devices like heart-rate monitors, blood glucose monitors, pulse oximeters, fitness and activity monitors can be portable and wearable. Many of these devices are disposable or require replacement batteries. As a result, the overall form-factor requirements are demanding.

• Real-time Access to Data

The information transfer needed for RPM to operate is a potentially prolonged and intricate process that involves multiple transfers. To start with, data from the patient’s device must be gathered and uploaded. If the device is connected to a mobile network, the data must transit through numerous data centers and the RPM platform network. If any of these steps is disrupted or experiences an outage, the data may be delayed in reaching its destination.

The connectivity of mobile networks cannot be guaranteed at all times. This is a significant issue for patients who are mobile users, as data delivery must be reliable and fast.

Wrapping Up

The healthcare sector will see the rapid adoption of improved updates as designers of wearables and remote patient monitors tackle issues and provide better devices to market at a more inexpensive price, but still in a small size with better connectivity. The rapid evolution of wearables is revolutionizing the healthcare environment and helping to offer enhanced care.  Healthcare organizations just need to tackle the challenges and emphasize on the enhancement of RPM devices.