The technology allows for seamless, real-time monitoring in the comfort of the patient’s home.
Patients with serious illnesses continue to receive care without leaving home, thanks to a partnership between Tampa General Hospital (TGH) and Signallamp Health Inc., a leading chronic care management company based in Pennsylvania.
More than 1,000 Tampa General patients currently are linked to advanced monitoring systems that communicate with their health care providers, reducing the number of visits to a doctor’s office or hospital.
“It’s cost-effective, efficient and allows doctors to monitor the health of their patients while they are at home,” said Dr. Karna Patel, vice president for Tampa General Medical Group.
Remote patient management is a growing trend in health care that allows caregivers to receive important health information about patients via remote, wearable devices. These updates allow health care experts to track patients with such conditions as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure and high blood pressure. The technology also helps free up much-needed hospital beds.
Signallamp’s robust platform makes assessments of patients and aligns that information with Tampa General medical teams such as primary care physicians, clinical pharmacists, and specialty providers. The platform is simple and doesn’t require the use of smartphones or Wi-Fi. Patients plug into a hub and use wireless monitoring devices approved by their TGH provider, such as a blood pressure cuff, which communicate to the hub.
Tampa General first partnered with Signallamp in 2021 for chronic care management. In 2022, the partnership expanded to include remote patient monitoring and a collaboration with innovative digital health connectivity company Stel Life Inc. on the system’s hardware and software. Stel’s “Vitals Hub” integrates with health monitoring devices, including scales, blood pressure cuffs, glucometers (blood sugar testing) and thermometers.
Remote patient monitoring has been an overwhelming success for Tampa General and its patients. Key highlights to date include:
- 40,000+ net new patient engagements.
- 92% patient retention in longitudinal care management (longitudinal refers to a single, complete patient record combining data from a variety of physicians and health care facilities).
- 1,200+ medication discrepancies identified and resolved.
- 1,000+ complex patients identified by a care management team and managed by a primary care physician.
“Improving the patient experience, and lowering total cost of care, requires increased primary care capacity,” Patel said. “This program gives our patients expanded access, personalization and a constant connection with their doctors, who can stay in front of issues and prevent avoidable hospitalizations.”
Remote monitoring has enormous opportunities. People receiving care at home had a 26% lower risk of readmission to the hospital and a lower risk for long-term care admission than hospitalized patients, according to JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“Our partnership with Signallamp and Stel Life is part of our commitment to driving world-class innovation that truly improves the quality of care our patients receive,” said Rachel Feinman, vice president of Innovation at Tampa General and managing director of TGH Innoventures, the hospital’s innovation center and venture capital fund. “Remote patient monitoring solutions are a real game changer in providing at-home care for patients with chronic conditions.”
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