Try Agora for Free
Sign up and start building! You don’t pay until you scale.
Virtual Care has been widely adopted by healthcare providers, especially after the pandemic. It has now become a standard part of healthcare delivery for many systems, providing access to services that range from routine consultations to mental health support and chronic disease management. Virtual care is now integrated across various specialties, including primary care, dermatology, behavioral health, ICU, , and emergency services.
With advancements in video conferencing tools, secure data sharing, and better network infrastructures, virtual care offers a more reliable and user-friendly experience. Enhanced audio-visual quality ensures that remote consultations mimic in-person interactions more closely.
Integration of Electronic Health Records (EHR) with virtual care platforms has significantly improved, making it easier for clinicians to evaluate patient and document visits in real time. In addition, virtual care has expanded access to care for underserved populations, especially in rural or remote areas, by eliminating the need for patients to travel long distances to see a healthcare provider.
Governments and insurance companies have adapted regulations to cover telehealth services, increasing the scope of what can be reimbursed and extending coverage to a broader array of services, including therapy and remote monitoring.
In telehealth, monitoring plays a vital role in ensuring patient safety and well-being, especially for individuals with chronic conditions or those requiring ongoing care. But not all monitoring is the same. Let’s explore the differences between continuous monitoring and intermittent monitoring, and how each can benefit patient care.
Continuous monitoring refers to the constant, real-time tracking of a patient's vital signs and health metrics using advanced digital health devices like wearables or remote sensors. This method provides immediate insights into a patient’s health status, allowing healthcare providers to detect even the slightest changes. For example, it can monitor heart rate and respiratory rate blood pressure, glucose levels, or oxygen saturation 24/7.
By providing a steady stream of data, continuous monitoring enables healthcare professionals to intervene quickly when a patient’s condition changes, often preventing complications before they become serious. It’s particularly beneficial for patients with critical or high-risk health issues, where real-time updates can mean the difference between a minor adjustment and a major emergency.
Intermittent monitoring, on the other hand, involves checking a patient’s health status at scheduled intervals or when necessary. This type of monitoring is less resource-intensive and still provides valuable data for many patients, especially those who don’t require constant surveillance. For example, patients managing chronic conditions like hypertension or diabetes may only need to have their vitals checked periodically throughout the day or week rather than constantly. Intermittent monitoring provides reliable data without the need for continuous device usage, allowing patients more flexibility while keeping their healthcare provider informed.
Studies have shown that more than half of in-hospital cardiac arrests occurred on the wards, and nearly three-quarters of in-hospital deaths were never admitted to an intensive care unit. Currently, the only patients in the hospital who are continuously monitored are patients in the telemetry and intensive care units and those in the operating room. Ward patients, however, are monitored using nursing spot-checks.
In an editorial published in Anesthesiology, Dr. Abenstein, M.S.E.E, M.D. of the Mayo Clinic, criticizes the traditional model of spot-checking vital signs on the wards as an ineffective way to monitor patients and prevent adverse outcomes.
Continuous monitoring is now extending beyond traditional hospital settings with the rise of "Hospital at Home" programs. These programs allow patients to receive hospital-level care in the comfort of their own homes, supported by continuous remote monitoring of vital signs. This model not only reduces the burden on hospital resources but also enhances patient comfort and outcomes by enabling real-time tracking and timely interventions, similar to what they would receive in an ICU or telemetry unit. For patients recovering from surgery or managing chronic illnesses like COPD, heart failure, or post-stroke care, continuous monitoring in the home environment can prevent complications and reduce readmission rates.
The current system for monitoring post-operative ward patients often relies on intermittent checks by healthcare staff, which may not always detect complications early enough to prevent adverse outcomes. This traditional approach, though resource-efficient, has limitations when it comes to identifying subtle changes in a patient’s condition between routine checks. Continuous monitoring, on the other hand, offers a potential solution but isn’t without its own set of challenges. So, is continuous monitoring truly the answer?
According to Dr. Frederic Michard, MD, PhD the main obstacle is awareness.
“Many clinicians did not realize yet that the way we monitor patients is far from being optimal. A culture change is needed,” states Dr. Michard.
Another key issue with current patient monitoring solutions is that they often restrict patients to their beds, limiting their mobility. For ambulatory ward patients, continuous monitoring presents several technological challenges, particularly with connectivity and power consumption.
Traditional technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi pose limitations. Wi-Fi or cellular (3G/4G/5G) connections drain battery power quickly, requiring large, uncomfortable batteries that are impractical for continuous use. On the other hand, Bluetooth and Zigbee technologies, while lower in power consumption, struggle with reliability, especially when obstructions, like walls, interfere with signal transmission. This makes consistent monitoring difficult in a hospital environment.
A potential solution would be wireless, wearable sensors that provide accurate data with minimal false alarms. Equally important, the system should be easy to use, ensuring that it doesn’t add to the workload of healthcare staff. Lastly, affordability is crucial to ensure that hospitals can implement it on a large scale without breaking the bank.
Virtual care company VeeOne Health is on a mission is to reimagine healthcare delivery by empowering providers with innovative technology that expands access to quality care, simplifies the clinician’s experience, and saves people’s lives.
VeeOne transforms remote patient care through its eSitter and Virtual Nursing solutions by leveraging Agora’s advanced telehealth technologies to enhance patient monitoring and care delivery. Here’s how these solutions are making an impact:
VeeOne’s eSitter solution is designed to improve patient safety by providing continuous, remote monitoring. It allows healthcare professionals to observe multiple patients at once, reducing the need for in-room staff while still ensuring that patients receive attentive care. This is especially useful for high-risk patients who need constant supervision, such as those prone to falls or with cognitive impairments.
VeeOne’s Virtual Nursing solution enables remote nursing care, allowing patients to receive expert guidance and assistance without requiring a nurse to be physically present. This system seamlessly integrates telehealth technologies to support nursing teams.
Learn more about the technology powering VeeOne’s innovative eSitter and Virtual Nursing products: Agora telehealth solutions
