The remote patient monitoring industry has become highly competitive as tech developers continue to build out their sensors’ capabilities.
Although many of the innovations and data-gathering abilities — such as using artificial intelligence to build large data sets — may appear similar, much territory exists for RPM companies to expand to within long-term care, one business strategy leader suggested.
“It’s a conservative industry that has to be taken kicking and screaming into the future,” quipped Dov Sugarman, vice president of business and development with EchoCare, during an interview with the McKnight’s Tech Daily. “Hopefully ahead of us is a big market.”
Like many new sensors, EchoCare’s tool provides multiple functions beyond the immediate detection of an emergency. When a person falls, for instance, the tool can collect respiratory data that later can help detect when he or she has a condition such as preclinical pneumonia.
Although many big innovations in monitoring tech may be done, AI and data science are allowing RPM developers to take a more granular approach to use cases and patient health, Sugarman said.
He also suggested that companies like EchoCare may be able to get ahead by generating “actionable information” for long-term care partners, collecting data points such as heart rate or sleep quality.
For senior living and care operators, these kind of data can go beyond wellness reports and can help flag early conditions such as pneumonia and forestall a resident’s trip to the hospital or rehab center.
“We don’t want to throw a bunch of data at the caregivers,” Sugarman said. “We really want to look into predictions, to give meaningful insights as opposed to ‘maybes.’”
Other fine-tuning of sensors will allow them to operate effectively amid environmental changes, such as lighting or humidity, or allow them to detect motion through walls or barriers.
Already, several RPM sensor systems are able to flag high-risk residents and patients for caregivers and help prioritize who they should attend to next.
EchoCare uses a wideband radar system, Sugarman explained, whereas different tech companies employ audio detection or even capture video that only AI can “see,” protecting people’s privacy.
Overall, an increasing number of healthcare providers and organizations have listed RPM adoption as their highest priority moving forward, according to a high-level report released in November.
