Adjusting to stay-at-home and social distancing measures this year, the world of healthcare has turned to remote patient monitoring and virtual visits to continue to provide care for patients. The pandemic has also increased the need for and expectation of telehealth solutions to increase access to care. The shift to on-demand care at home for consumers can be more cost effective, more convenient and can foster a more holistic approach to longitudinal healthcare.

Henk van Houten, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Philips — a CES® 2021 exhibitor — sees trends like telehealth and a remote patient monitoring key to a more affordable and effective approach of managing health and chronic conditions.

Screening and Supporting Patients Remotely

Remote screening and monitoring can help safeguard critical care capacity and prevent unnecessary visits to care providers — particularly during a pandemic. Solutions like Philips’s dedicated online screening platform can help process high volume requests and support health care providers through call centers to provide accurate care to patients remotely.

Other innovative solutions, such as pre-surgery health coaching, could better prepare patients for hospital visits, shortening hospital stays and preventing avoidable readmissions.

Keeping a Caring Eye on Patients

Following hospital discharge, patients are typically disconnected from health care oversight. Remote health monitoring in the home can help patients and care providers manage post-visit vitals and access valuable information to prevent readmissions.

Wearable biosensors sensors, questionnaires and online chat functions are convenient solutions that allow patients to provide and receive regular feedback on their health without leaving their home.

Empowering Patients to Manage Chronic Disease

Home-based medical technology can help patients with chronic disease track relevant health data and suggest actionable insights for illness management. Philips’s cloud-based platform, for example, encourages patients to take an active role in their sleep care and also enables professionals to support patients in a targeted way.

Significantly, home care management technology helps chronic disease patients adhere better to their treatment recommendations, through notifications and alerts from care providers.

Enabling Independent Senior Living

Remote technology is helping to evolve and advance elderly care at home. Predictive analytics helps care providers identify those who are at risk of falling before the patient suffers an injury. Data from multiple sources, including medical records, alert services and previous fall frequency, allow providers to reach out proactively to their patients.

Smart home technology in the future, such as motion sensors paired with wearable devices, could further complement tech services already in play.

Providing Remote Prenatal Care

Expecting mothers with health needs or risks can also benefit from remote monitoring care.

Philips offers innovative solutions in this area:

• Philips is partnering with Babyscripts to enable maternity clinics and hospitals to remotely monitor pregnant patients’ vital signs, allowing providers to manage pregnancy-related risks between regular visits.
   
• Philips recently announced the introduction of a wireless and disposable electrode patch that can be placed on the mother’s abdomen and provide non-invasive monitoring of maternal and fetal heart rate as well as uterine activity.

Improving Access and Convenience of Health Services

Technology that tracks health and lifestyle data, from weight and blood pressure to oral hygiene, can be embedded into the home environment to support and encourage healthy living for all consumers — not just those with special medical needs.

On-demand professional and clinical-grade care can be a catalyst for healthier lifestyles for everyone, creating a world where care is available not just when there’s a serious injury or illness.