5 Good Reasons to Embrace Remote Patient Management for Your Heart Health

Imagine this: You are at home and suddenly feel a bit dizzy. You grab a handy digital blood pressure cuff and take your blood pressure right there in your living room or kitchen using your smartphone. Instantly, your blood pressure reading uploads to your medical record. An Ochsner Digital Medicine clinician monitors your readings and will contact you if you’re trending off track. Plus, the Ochsner Digital Medicine app you used to take your reading provides real-time guidance and alerts for irregular results.

This new technique stems from a way of caring for patients that has grown in healthcare over the past decade, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s called “remote patient monitoring” and, unlike traditional care, helps doctors keep tabs on their patients’ health outside the four walls of the clinic, conveniently reducing visits to the doctor’s office.

Ochsner Digital Medicine takes the digital health method to the next level and goes beyond just monitoring to truly manage members’ conditions. The result? Remote patient management (RPM). Digital Medicine uses simple tools to continually monitor cardiometabolic conditions, such as high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and weight. Members also enjoy the personalized clinical support of a care team that helps with medication adjustments and healthy lifestyle.

With remote patient management, Digital Medicine can help catch potential problems earlier, reduce ER trips and hospital admissions, and better tailor treatment plans.

If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes, here are five reasons to embrace RPM and join Ochsner Digital Medicine:

1. More information for better healthcare decisions.

With remote patient management, you have access to more health data between visits. Not only is information stored in a convenient Digital Medicine app, but members also receive monthly progress reports. This data can help you and your care team make more informed decisions for your health. Further, the provider and the member can use this data to track blood sugar or blood pressure levels or symptoms over time. Digital Medicine strives to do this in a non-intrusive way.

2. Encourages member engagement.

The easy-to-use tools encourage Digital Medicine members to self-manage their condition(s) and become more engaged with their daily treatment.

Patients are more engaged and accountable when they feel they have a role and responsibility in their own care plan. The nature of remote patient management provides accountability and a better understanding of their own health condition(s). You are more likely to achieve positive health outcomes when you have the tools and guidance to participate more fully and build sustainable behavioral changes.

The management offers convenient care from the comfort of home and peace of mind because a care team is watching over you.

3. Saves you money.

Remote patient management reduces emergency room visits, as well as hospital stays and admissions. Bringing chronic care management into the home even reduces inpatient services, resulting in lower care costs for everyone involved in a member’s healthcare journey.

It also saves you money by cutting the various costs of in-person visits, such as gas or bus fare, childcare and — perhaps most importantly — the cost of time.

4. Improves access to care.

Remote patient management bridges the gap for patients who live in rural areas or have difficulty traveling. Digital Medicine connects you to a licensed clinician and a panel of professional health coaches without the hassle of making a trip.

Remote patient management is not only convenient but also necessary for some, by ensuring you get the care you need when you need it.

5. Strengthens the doctor-patient relationship.

It may seem counterintuitive, but remote patient management can help reduce workload and increase flexibility for primary care doctors. This, in turn, enhances your connection with your doctor by allowing them to spend a little more time during in-person office visits, making these visits more effective.

Further, the care team model is based on trust and collaboration, and members report that they are encouraged by their Digital Medicine care team’s ongoing support.

A program that works

Four out of five program participants reach their blood pressure or A1C goals in six months.

The remote patient management technology and teamwork that is the basis for Ochsner Digital Medicine is positively changing how to treat high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity. When eligible members join this clinically proven program, they receive the tools they need to manage their health, including:

• A blood pressure cuff and/or glucometer that automatically sends readings via their smartphone or tablet to their electronic health record.
• A licensed clinician who monitors readings and can adjust medications as needed.
• A panel of health coaches who help the enrolled member take manageable steps toward a healthier lifestyle.
• Ongoing monthly progress reports, support tools and educational resources that help them stay on track.