Impact of a Large-Scale Remote Patient Monitoring Program on Hospitalization Reduction

Telemed J E Health. 2025 Jul;31(7):914-918. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2024.0600. Epub 2025 Mar 24.

Abstract

Introduction/Methods: Patient Monitoring at Home is a Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) program through Michigan Medicine, which provides symptoms and vital sign monitoring via a provided cellular tablet and Bluetooth-connected devices. A team of registered nurses monitors patients 7 days per week. Results: The team examined 6-month outcomes for 1,139 encounters from November 2020 to August 2022, which showed a 59% reduction in the average number of hospital admissions 6 months after the start of enrollment (1.38 vs. 0.57, p < 0.0001) across multiple enrollment diagnoses including COVID-19, congestive heart failure, and hypertension. The duration of enrollment varied, ranging from 7 to 386 days, with a median of 38 days. A shorter duration of monitoring was associated with a more favorable outcome (hospitalization reduction). Discussion: Our findings show that RPM is effective in reducing hospital admissions for a wide variety of conditions. More research is needed to optimize patient selection, ideal method, and duration of monitoring.

Keywords: COVID-19; congestive heart failure; hospital readmission; hypertension; remote patient monitoring; telehealth; telemedicine.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Heart Failure / therapy
  • Hospitalization* / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Michigan
  • Middle Aged
  • Monitoring, Physiologic / methods
  • Remote Patient Monitoring
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Telemedicine*