Patient engagement leader expands commitment to driving digital health technology as pandemic continues
Patients using a remote patient monitoring program developed by Get Well, a global leader in digital patient engagement, to monitor and report COVID-19 symptoms had lowered hospitalization rates, spent less time in the intensive care unit, and had shorter overall lengths of stay rates, according to a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Associate Network Open.
The study, published by Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin, concluded that patients with COVID-19 who activated Get Well’s digital care management solution, GetWell Loop, had a 32% lower rate of being hospitalized. Those who were hospitalized had stays that were on average 2.7 days shorter and spent fewer days in intensive care.
“Our objective was to determine if a daily remote monitoring program for patients with COVID-19 could help them manage symptoms at home, and when hospitalized, shorten their stay,” said Bradley Crotty, MD, MPH, Chief Digital Engagement Officer for the Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin health network. “We ultimately found that we were able to safely keep more people at home, supported by our team, through digital technology.”
More than 5,300 participants used GetWell Loop, which was used as a responsive web or mobile application, to track their symptoms and vital signs including temperature and pulse oximetry readings. The COVID-19 program provided 14 days of check-ins related to disease progression and symptoms, while also providing a space for free-text comments. In addition, the program provided educational guidance related to COVID-19, including tips for caring for themselves at home, minimizing spread, and stress management.
Patients were also connected virtually to a team at Get Well, which monitored patient check-ins and free-text comments around the clock. Abnormal survey responses alerted team members, who then contacted patients to initiate an escalation of care or to conduct further medical evaluation. Nurses also reacted to patient comments independently from alerts to provide education or coaching.
“Our team designed the COVID Loops to enable patients to effectively monitor symptoms at home — keeping patients who did not require hospitalization away from the hospital at a time when emergency departments were being overrun. We were able to help providers triage patients to the right care setting when and if symptoms got worse,” said Vicki Wickline, Senior Vice President, Partnership Success at Get Well. “Within just 10 months, we accomplished this goal and have demonstrated that personalized digital care management can effectively be used for future pandemic or public health events.”
In addition to Froedtert and the Medical School of Wisconsin, the COVID-19 digital care management program has been used by more than 275,000 individuals at healthcare organizations across the country, including Bon Secours Mercy Health, Atrium Health, LifeBridge Health, and St. Lawrence Health System.
The COVID-19 Loops can be used alongside any of the available 250+ digital care management plans in the Get Well library to optimize efforts to reduce health system overload.
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