Chronic disease prevention is critical for helping to reduce the clinical and
financial demands on an already overburdened healthcare system. As the number of
people with chronic disease increases, it is of paramount importance to reduce
the number of unnecessary emergency department visits, preventable hospitalizations,
and medical referrals.
Shifting the focus of delivering care to the home encourages patient engagement and
enables patients to become an integral part of their extended healthcare team. As
many chronic illnesses require daily management and supervision, Remote Monitoring
technology is an ideal solution. Patients are empowered to take traditional medical
measurements, such as blood pressure, glucose levels, and weight and then relay the
information to the right people at the right time – all from the comfort of their
own home. Patient information can be shared remotely via phone, Internet and through
wireless devices.
In addition to prescribed clinical monitoring, through biometric devices, the system
can deliver medication reminders, trigger patient alerts and elicit patient subjective
measurements in a question and answer format that provides the healthcare team a more
complete holistic clinical snapshot of the patient in real time. The healthcare team
can easily analyze the results and adjust a clinical protocol accordingly based on
best practice guidelines built into the system. Care providers can also remotely send
the patient appropriate educational material that promotes behavior modification and
empowers the patient, ultimately resulting in better patient outcomes.
With patients becoming more involved in their health management, physicians, nurses
and other care providers can extend their reach and effectiveness. TELUS’ RPM application
is positioned to become a source of data for both the Electronic Health Record (EHR)
and Personal Health Record (PHR). Patients will be able to
access their PHR and update it, ensuring they have the most up-to-date record of their
current health status. The information sent to the clinician can immediately be
incorporated into the patient’s EHR, providing the extended health team with a complete
view of the patient’s status.
Benefits include:
- Improved acute care discharge planning
- Reduced patient travel
- Improved patient satisfaction
- Enhanced collaboration between sectors and healthcare providers
- Reducing unnecessary referrals
- Extended geographic reach of the health system
- Improved care team productivity
- Extended system capacity/health human resources
- Better use of available home care resources
- Reduced/delayed long-term care admissions
- Improved adherence to drug regimens
Publications
Analyse économique d'un programme de
télésoins à domicile pour la maladie
pulmonaire obstructive chronique -
Cahier de la Chaire de recherche du Canada en technologie de l’information dans le secteur de la santé
No 05-06 -
Novembre 2005 
*
Revue systématique des effets
de la télésurveillance à domicile
dans le contexte du diabète, des
maladies pulmonaires et des
maladies cardiovasculaires - Agence d'évaluation des technologies et des modes d'intervention en santé -
Avril 2009 *
*available in French only