Evaluation Background: Telehealth Remote Patient Monitoring Systems

Here's background for our Evaluations of telehealth remote patient monitoring systems, outlining the key considerations for making wise purchasing decisions. Learn how the technology is used, which specs are important, and what factors we test for. Also review our latest product ratings and ECRI's data describing hospitals' interest in each vendor.

Telehealth remote patient monitoring systems are used to enable periodic vital signs monitoring of patients in their home. They use clinician-end analysis software to analyze patient data and identify potential deterioration. These systems are mainly used to manage patient populations with chronic diseases to reduce hospital readmissions and ER visits. These systems can also be used to manage population health. They bring together established physiologic measurement technologies (e.g., blood glucose meters, blood pressure meters) and use cellular technology to enable monitoring of patients outside the healthcare setting.

To be considered in this category, a system must have patient-end software to collect data from physiologic measurement devices, and clinician-end analysis software to analyze this patient data and identify potential deterioration.

The remote patient monitoring market is rapidly changing, with increasing numbers of vendors introducing products and solutions. Major components of a typical solution are:

1. Remote patient monitoring kit—A patient-specific kit containing devices associated with the management of the patient's condition. The kit includes the following components:

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