CHRONIC CARE

The numbers

Chronic diseases are the leading cause of disability and death in the US where 50% of the US population is affected, and the odds of developing a chronic illness increase with age. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 85% and 60% of the elderly population suffer from one or multiple chronic illnesses, respectively.

Hospitalization of chronic patients

Although chronic diseases, do have their episodic exacerbations and may be life-threatening at times, chronic patients may maintain a relatively good quality of life through continuous care and management of their conditions. Many chronic patients are hospitalized not because they are extremely unwell, but because they must be monitored. However, managing chronic disease may be exceptionally challenging when more than one condition is involved. Providing care through different health professionals is more complex and treatments become complicated, making it difficult for patients to comply with the treatment protocol.

Chronic care management programs are primary care services outside the traditional doctor’s office that contribute to better patient health and to support patient self-care. For patients, managing their chronic condition will ultimately reduce emergency room visits and hospitalization or readmissions, and increase engagement in their own healthcare.

Nevertheless, many organizations still rely on traditional periodic in-person encounters that can be inconvenient, expensive, and insufficiently frequent. Remote patient monitoring solutions can play a critical role in chronic care management by collecting and sharing vital signs and behavioral parameters with medical staff who evaluate trends and intervene, when necessary.

RPM & chronic disease management

However, remote patient monitoring solutions have seen ups and downs with regards to technology adoption. The best solutions maximize adoption by making their product as accessible to as many people as possible, including those with language, literacy, cognitive and technology barriers. They must ensure a seamless and stressless experience for both staff and patients alike. They must enable healthcare to adopt a proactive, predictive, and personalized care, save money and improve patient outcome.

Neteera’s FDA-cleared medical device is a contactless remote patient monitoring platform accurately delivering heart and lung activity (heart rate and respiratory rate) as well as patient behavior. For chronic care patients, integrating Neteera’s contactless monitoring platform with their chronic care management regimen can have significant impact on the quality of care they receive. Clinical insights on the patient’s current state and trend analysis are made possible by real-time data and continuous collection of vital signs, thus giving the physician the correct tools and information to intervene in a timely manner when necessary. Neteera’s platform encompasses a seamless and stressless monitoring experience for patients and their medical staff:

Contactless remote monitoring
Senses through clothing and bedding
Health data are kept private and secure
No camera for ultimate privacy
Device handling/maintenance is not required
Complete integration in facilities’ EHR/EMR system
SMS/email notifications
Smart Alert System aiming to minimize non-clinically relevant notifications

In short, Neteera’s platform may help reduce the burden out of healthcare for a wide range of patients and can help clinicians do their job more effectively and efficiently.