Blessing Health System turns to remote patient monitoring, telehealth for COVID-19 recovery
Blessing Health System launched a new virtual care program in February allowing patients diagnosed with COVID-19 to recover safely from home under the watchful eye of the Blessing care team. The Blessing Enhanced COVID Recovery Program uses a combination of remote patient monitoring and telehealth technology from digital health provider Cloud DX.
Under the Blessing Enhanced COVID Recovery Program, patients discharged from one of Blessing Health System’s hospitals with mild to low-risk COVID-19 symptoms are sent home with the Cloud DX Connected Health Kit including easy-to-use FDA cleared devices to remotely self-monitor their critical vitals, such as pulse oxygen saturation, blood pressure and temperature, with vitals data flowing in real-time to a clinical dashboard overseen by Blessing’s care team. Patients and family members also receive an included tablet computer and the Cloud DX mobile app and survey to track daily symptoms. Patients receive care from a Blessing hospitalist, care coordination nurse or home health nurse depending on the individual and their care needs.
If vitals or symptoms change indicating a deterioration in a patient’s condition, the Cloud DX system sends a notification to the Blessing care team, triggering a telehealth follow-up video visit.
“Our first objective is always better care for our patients and better patient outcomes,” says Dr. Irshad Siddiqui, MD, executive vice president and chief of IT/Innovation for the Blessing Health System. “It’s imperative that we ensure capacity within our hospitals for the most critically-ill patients, while maintaining a watchful eye on those patients who are recovering at home.
Dr. Siddiqui continued, “This is a time of great urgency for the entire US healthcare system. In mere weeks, my team, alongside the Cloud DX team, were able to stand up a solution that provides us with an innovative way to effectively and efficiently deliver scalable, 24/7 remote monitoring for COVID-19 patients under our care, allowing them to safely leave the hospital and recover in the comfort and security of their own homes. And when this pandemic resides, we have a remote patient monitoring solution that can easily be applied to other areas of patient care, for instance, chronic disease management.”
“Virtual care, including remote patient monitoring and telehealth, is rapidly becoming a way for healthcare providers to affordably deliver an enhanced level of quality patient care through the pandemic and beyond,” said Robert Kaul, CEO of Cloud DX. “From COVID-19 patient management, to post-surgical follow-up, to ongoing care management for patients with chronic illness, hospital systems can leverage modern, clinical-grade technology to provide quality of care safely and at scale. We are delighted to support Dr. Siddiqui, his team at Blessing and their patients, as they strive to overcome the very pressing care challenges that have arisen because of this global pandemic, with a highly cost-effective solution for COVID-19 remote patient monitoring. At an average cost of just $175 per patient — a fraction of the cost of hospitalization — our solution offers dramatic financial savings to hospitals without compromising patient care.”
For more information about please visit blessinghealth.org.