Remote patient monitoring expands to include chronic illness in Georgia

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Healthcare for thousands of Georgians is set to become more convenient due to changes in remote patient monitoring or RPM.

Lacy Knight, a physician and health informatics officer for Piedmont Healthcare, said the hospital system is expanding its RPM services to track chronic illnesses.

“This is a program we’re just beginning to get started with over the next few months,” said Knight. “Think heart failure, think diabetes, where the physician has historically had to come in for a visit every couple months.”

Piedmont has utilized RPM for treating acute conditions for years, but the new capabilities will be life-changing for a large segment of patients facing serious illness.

“Data gets sent to the physician and they can manage it without coming in,” explained Knight.

Six in 10 adults experience chronic conditions.

People 65 and older report the highest rates of chronic conditions. This same segment of older Americans is also most likely to utilize telehealth services, according to the CDC.

“This is something that makes sense,” said Knight. “Just to figure out a better way to manage some of these patients.”

Other hospital systems across the country are also expanding RPM capabilities, including Grady Health System.

“We began remote patient monitoring with our chronic heart failure patients five years ago and then expanded to utilizing it for acute conditions. Grady is exploring the use of RPM for additional chronic conditions,” said Danielle Hackett, a spokesperson for Grady.

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