Mount Sinai Health System on Wednesday announced a new partnership with Omron that will offer patients the remote-technology company’s VitalSight home blood pressure-monitoring tool.
Dr. Rob Fields, chief medical officer for population health at Mount Sinai, is leading the effort at the health system along with a team of clinical pharmacists.
“The ability to monitor patients at home during the pandemic – and on an ongoing basis – is critical,” Fields said in a press release.
“We are focusing first on our most vulnerable patients, who bear the consequences of disparities in care – in part, due to lack of technology access. This program requires no technology and comes at no cost for the device, with little-to-no cost for service,” Fields continued.
“For us it’s always been about accuracy and reliability. We saw it as an opportunity for patients to understand what their numbers mean,” said Jeff Ray, executive director of business and technology at Omron, in an interview with Healthcare IT News.
“If you ask any physician, they will tell you, the spot readings they get at their office, it’s so hard to understand what’s going on there,” said Ray. Understanding what’s going on at home, he said, can help doctors get the full picture of patient health.
WHY IT MATTERS
It can take months – or even years – for clinicians to optimize patient care for hypertension. With remote monitoring, the Omron team hopes to give providers the tools they need to monitor patients’ response to lifestyle changes and medication treatment within days or weeks instead.
“We’re hoping to reduce the amount of time that it takes that physician to customize the treatment for a patient,” said Ray.
The kit – which Omron says is HIPAA-compliant and Medicare-reimbursable – typically includes a digital blood pressure monitor with cuff, a weight scale, a digital medication tracker and a data hub. Patients’ data is securely sent through VitalSight to the doctor’s electronic health record in real time; the tool also alerts the physician’s office if a health concern is detected.
During the pandemic, Mount Sinai has been using telehealth appointments to identify at-risk patients and mail them VitalSight kits – with no in-person contact required, explained Adriana Benassi, client success manager for VitalSight at Omron.
“We’re currently focusing on the patient population that has high blood pressure,” Benassi said. “Our goal is to expand throughout the [Mount Sinai] system, and ramp up and increase patients on the platform. Having it as a phased approach is the best way to go about it.”
The goal of the partnership, according to the Omron team, is to achieve 80% patient utilization at an eight-month period, where utilization means taking measurements at least twice a day.
“Just because you build it doesn’t mean everyone will use it,” said Ray, who pointed to masked hypertensive patients, with comorbidities such as age or BMI, as people who may particularly benefit from the frequent monitoring.
In the future, the Omron and Mount Sinai teams are interested in potentially working toward showing patients data via their MyChart apps.
THE LARGER TREND
The use of RPM devices has been gaining in momentum since last year – though it’s gained particular importance amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with patients unable or unwilling to see clinicians in person.
Multiple health systems and vendors have rolled out remote patient-monitoring platforms to observe COVID-19 patients in their homes and to prioritize who may need care.
Judy Lenane, chief clinical officer for iRhythm Technologies, said she believes the remote patient-monitoring field is “in its infancy.”
“How do you monitor vital signs and other biomarkers … to really understand a patient who might be at risk?” she proposed.
ON THE RECORD
“It’s not just about the device; it’s about using it and understanding it,” said Ray. “If I [as the patient] can track and understand what my results are, I’m more motivated to stay on the right path.”
Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
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