Study: Essential functions can help HF telemonitoring buy-in
In a study to provide insight into the effects of telemonitoring on self-care and clinical management, and determine the features that enable successful heart failure (HF) telemonitoring, researchers concluded that the success of a telemonitoring system is highly dependent on its features and design.
Published in the January/February edition of the Journal of Medical Internet Research, Emily Seto, PhD, from the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation at the University Health Network in Toronto, and colleagues conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 heart failure patients attending a heart function clinic who used a mobile phone-based telemonitoring system for six months.
The telemonitoring system required the patients to take daily weight and blood pressure readings, weekly single-lead ECGs and answer daily symptom questions on a mobile phone. Instructions were sent to the patient’s mobile phone based on their physiological values. Alerts were also sent to a cardiologist’s mobile phone, as required. All clinicians involved in the study were interviewed post-trial (N = 5).
According to the researchers, the telemonitoring system improved patient self-care by instructing the patients in real-time how to appropriately modify their lifestyle behaviors. “Patients felt more aware of their heart failure condition, less anxiety and more empowered,” they wrote. “Many were willing to partially fund the use of the system.”
The clinicians were able to manage their patients’ heart failure conditions more effectively, because they had physiological data reported to them frequently to help in their decision-making (eg, for medication titration) and were alerted at the earliest sign of decompensation, according to the researchers. Some clinical concerns included ongoing costs of the telemonitoring system and increased clinical workload.
A few patients did not want to be watched long-term while some were concerned they might become dependent on the system, Seto et al noted.
“The in-depth qualitative analysis revealed several system characteristics that contributed to improved heart failure management, such as having immediate self-care and clinical feedback, being easy and quick to use, and providing tangible benefits to the end-users,” Seto et al concluded. “These system characteristics will help ensure patient adherence and clinician buy-in, which are both necessary for successful implementation of any telemonitoring tool.”
Published in the January/February edition of the Journal of Medical Internet Research, Emily Seto, PhD, from the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation at the University Health Network in Toronto, and colleagues conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 heart failure patients attending a heart function clinic who used a mobile phone-based telemonitoring system for six months.
The telemonitoring system required the patients to take daily weight and blood pressure readings, weekly single-lead ECGs and answer daily symptom questions on a mobile phone. Instructions were sent to the patient’s mobile phone based on their physiological values. Alerts were also sent to a cardiologist’s mobile phone, as required. All clinicians involved in the study were interviewed post-trial (N = 5).
According to the researchers, the telemonitoring system improved patient self-care by instructing the patients in real-time how to appropriately modify their lifestyle behaviors. “Patients felt more aware of their heart failure condition, less anxiety and more empowered,” they wrote. “Many were willing to partially fund the use of the system.”
The clinicians were able to manage their patients’ heart failure conditions more effectively, because they had physiological data reported to them frequently to help in their decision-making (eg, for medication titration) and were alerted at the earliest sign of decompensation, according to the researchers. Some clinical concerns included ongoing costs of the telemonitoring system and increased clinical workload.
A few patients did not want to be watched long-term while some were concerned they might become dependent on the system, Seto et al noted.
“The in-depth qualitative analysis revealed several system characteristics that contributed to improved heart failure management, such as having immediate self-care and clinical feedback, being easy and quick to use, and providing tangible benefits to the end-users,” Seto et al concluded. “These system characteristics will help ensure patient adherence and clinician buy-in, which are both necessary for successful implementation of any telemonitoring tool.”