Remote Monitoring: Is the world waking up to its necessity in Chronic Care Management during times of crisis?

Remote Monitoring: Is the world waking up to its necessity in Chronic Care Management during times of crisis?

The current pandemic has become a test of faith in remote monitoring technology. If anything this pandemic has awakened the world to the need for smarter healthcare approaches. As various countries despite their top of the line healthcare systems struggle to contain the management of this pandemic, it has become increasingly clear that effective alternatives to manage the care of chronically ill patients have to be adopted to provide consistent treatment during challenging situations and add an extra layer of safety to their wellbeing to protect them from highly contagious viruses such as the COVID-19.

Remote monitoring technology has come through as an answer to the current crisis with many countries across the world scrambling to adopt the technology in chronic care management. It has helped avoid exposure to the COVID-19 virus which could prove deadly to patients battling chronic health conditions. This virus is found to cause serious complications in those individuals who are immunocompromised, have weak immune systems and the elderly, a majority of whom could be chronically affected by underlying health problems.

Most patients with chronic diseases are battling health problems caused by a combination of health issues such as hyper-tension, heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, cancer or taking medications that are suppressing their immune systems to fight one or more of these health conditions. It is critical to avoid exposing these patients to life threatening viruses such the one we are struggling to contain in the present scenario.

Remote monitoring allows for patient care from the safety of their homes eliminating the risk of contagion at healthcare centres. Chronic care management requires constant vigilance and resources to monitor patient health. In times of crisis remote monitoring ensures the usual, uninterrupted tracking of their vitals from a distance at lower healthcare costs and better accessibility. In-person visits are taxing at times like these on not only the patients but also the healthcare providers. A quick, calculated transition and adoption to healthcare technologies to ease the process of acquiring and providing healthcare facilities has become crucial to manage chronic care.

Long-term care is the key to providing the right support to chronically ill patients making them one of the toughest cases during events such as these to manage. This pandemic has had a multidimensional effect across many parallels for patients and healthcare providers. It has affected our mobility physically, financially, and rendered most online services useless. Remote Monitoring of patients is the one service that can be accessed seamlessly, given that it has been adopted and governments have regulated its use.

Although these services have existed for decades, most countries and their respective governments have stalled their penetration in the niches of the society where it is most necessary today. A lack of regulation slows the adoption of such technologies. These issues are the only obstacles in the way of remote monitoring services reaching the needy. The few companies that provide these services are sitting on fully developed systems that can be deployed to cater for chronic care management at any given minute. The existing gap between patients and providers due to a lack of government regulation has to be closed for these technologies to be used for advantage.

COVID-19 outbreak has further pushed the need for adoption of these healthcare technologies and proved to be an answer to the woes of several challenges faced in the treatment and care for the chronically ill population. Remote monitoring is the best and most effective no-contact solution to treat the most vulnerable and it is of grave importance that we realise its full potential in the present and future crises.