Virtual Patient Monitoring Improves Healthcare Experience
With technology advancements becoming increasingly available for healthcare organizations, more and more components of the patient experience are moving to the electronic or virtual world. These digital advances have impacted a variety of systems within healthcare. A good example of this is the shift that has taken place in how medical records are stored electronically through the adoption of EMR/EHR by hospitals and clinics.
As technology continues to become ingrained in the healthcare process, there has been a recent push to find more ways for it to influence the patient experience. Patients are commonly using video visits to consult with their doctors or to complete follow-up appointments virtually as opposed to traveling to a clinic or hospital to be physically seen by their providers. This new focus on the virtual patient experience (which, to-date, has most often taken shape in the use of virtual visits) is drastically changing the world of healthcare.
While virtual visits are booming in popularity, the use of virtual solutions in healthcare has also made a significant impact on patient monitoring. As reported in a recent Frost & Sullivan article, one example of virtual patient monitoring “utilizes a sensor placed under the patient’s mattress or within a chair and leverages analytics to continuously measure vital signs — without needing to touch the patient.”
This type of virtual patient monitoring has the power to provide patients with less intrusive care and has also proven to benefit hospitals financially by increasing revenue — making the healthcare experience smoother for both patients and providers.
This technology creates a virtual experience wherein the patient has an increased level of privacy and can maintain a higher level of independence while recovering — all while receiving a high quality of care. The same study also noted that virtual patient monitoring solutions “provide a very simple user interface for the caregiver, and are less intrusive for the patient and their family, all while constantly monitoring the patient, ensuring that they remain safe.” Virtual solutions are making the process of giving and receiving care more enhanced and efficient on both ends.
Virtual patient monitoring not only creates a more comfortable and satisfying experience for the patient, but also for doctors and providers. Continuous virtual patient monitoring can help improve workflow and increase revenue for hospitals, as the length of patient stays is reduced with follow-up care provided virtually. Hospitals can benefit financially from the use of virtual monitoring solutions without hindering patient outcomes or satisfaction.
While virtual visits have received a great deal of attention for the flexibility that they give patients when it comes to scheduling and attending appointments, devices such as wearables and sensors also offer another significant way for healthcare systems to adopt a telehealth approach. Wearable devices that are used to track physical activity, such as Fitbits or Jawbones, have become a popular means for hospitals to use virtual technology to help monitor patients’ health outside the hospital. Each of these technologies helps hospitals provide positive patient outcomes while freeing up dollars and beds.
With the advantages that virtual patient monitoring can give to both patients and providers alike, more hospital systems are beginning to adopt new solutions. Whether it’s through the use of virtual visits or wearable devices, virtual patient monitoring solutions give hospital systems a great way to adopt a telehealth approach as we look ahead to improve the future of care.
