Former healthcare executives advise remote patient monitoring & telemedicine to be actively pursued
Like every other state in the United States, clinicians and healthcare professionals in Massachusetts are working overtime, with the hospital and ambulatory structure of the state facing many critical challenges.
An op-ed in the Boston Global penned on March 25 by current and former healthcare executives highlighted the COVID-19 predicament, suggesting that the state must use public and private infrastructure, launching tech-based solutions to safely support COVID-19 patients at home or in community based venues.
Outlining three crucial aspects that needed to be addressed, the authors suggested that healthcare programs needed to be implemented, which will allow patients from home and other venues to easily access them.
They recommended that some degree of respiratory and other essential medical support to individuals must be made available, should a situation arise where ventilators would run out. This will reduce the burden on physicians, nurses and hospital staff.
In conformity with the state health department’s mobile integrated health program, it should support patients in venues other than hospitals. Using physician telemedicine consultations, specially trained paramedics should be allowed to implement them, with evaluations monitored by a 24/7 nurse call center. Remote laboratory and biometric centers can be enlisted to test individuals with presumptive or confirmed cases of COVID-19, and in accordance, intervene if required.
Likewise, in order to have more intensive care unit beds, the authors proposed repurposing ventilation devices used to treat sleep apnea and other conditions that support recuperating and not-so-ill individuals. Many patients can be remotely monitored from their homes, using consumer devices to determine their blood oxygen saturation.
The authors explained that many COVID-19 patients can be cared for safely in their homes, and managed with proper remote monitoring and reliable access to a telemedicine care center. They also emphasised that people with less severe respiratory conditions can be treated safely with noninvasive ventilators, which are commonly available.
Concluding, the authors noted that by implementing the first two essentials, the third goal of limiting the clinicians’ burden can be accomplished.
The authors of the op-ed included Robert Master, MD, former president and CEO of Commonwealth Care Alliance; Gary Gottlieb, MD, former CEO of Partners HealthCare System; David Margulies, MD, cofounder and director of Q-State Biosciences; Chris Kryder, MD, a primary care physician and commissioner of Massachusetts Health Policy Commission; John Loughnane, MD, former CMO of Commonwealth Care Alliance; and David Martin, MD, vice chair of innovative care solutions at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
