How Does Patient Monitoring and Data Collection Work?
The big arena for patient monitoring and patient data collection is in sleep therapy. How does it work?
Right now, the big arena for patient monitoring and patient data collection is in sleep therapy. In the sleep sector, we can see the basic model for how the data is collected, reviewed and used in multiple ways.
“Patient data, whether obtained via SD card or wirelessly, gives insight into patient usage behavior and therapy outcomes,” says Rob Levings, vice president of Healthcare Informatics, for sleep therapy equipment manufacturer ResMed. “In some instances, such as with ResMed’s AirSense 10 devices, data can be available in as little as an hour after a patient’s sleep.”
That “near real-time” data is giving providers and physicians the ability to respond much more quickly to patients’ therapy needs.
“This allows sleep providers to detect therapy issues quickly and take action if necessary,” Levings says. “Patient management software can streamline this process by supporting ‘management by exception’ capabilities, enabling providers to focus only on those patients that need help. Such software also frees up resources, allowing providers to focus less time on data analysis and more time on patient care.”
Moreover, the data is now a tool that can be leveraged by all stakeholders to streamline processes and focus on care.
“OSA therapy is undergoing dramatic improvements through the integration of disparate data sources from EMRs, sleep labs, billing systems and payers,” says Mark D’Angelo, Sleep Business Leader for sleep and respiratory equipment company Philips. “With centralized data, HMEs and RTs are able to eliminate a number of manual tasks, reducing both time and opportunity for error. The automating of manual and administrative tasks is helping to ensure timely delivery and ongoing support of OSA patients. Most importantly, these strategies are keeping the right people connected to the right information at all times to increase compliance and adherence throughout the care process.”
This article originally appeared in the August 2015 issue of HME Business.