As we head into 2022, we asked the Healthcare IT Today community to share some predictions for the new year. I always find it interesting to learn what people think is coming down the road. Be sure to check out all our Health IT Predictions.
One of the silver linings of COVID-19 was the experience providing care to patients remotely. This is reflected in the predictions related to remote patient monitoring and in home care. In many cases, patients no longer want to go into the office or hospital. They want to receive care at home as much as possible. Below you’ll find a bunch of predictions about this shift in mindset.
Here’s a look at some of the 2022 remote patient monitoring and in home care predictions we received:
Wendy Deibert, SVP, Clinical Solutions at Caregility
Looking ahead, I anticipate ample innovation in the field of specialized remote patient monitoring devices. RPM will be used more routinely post-discharge to improve outcomes, reduce the risk of readmission, and automate the capture of care quality metrics. Virtual care platforms and integrated RPM devices that can transition with the patient from the inpatient setting to the home will enable a more seamless, consistent care experience.
Scott Pradels, Chief Executive Officer at Carium
Telehealth adoption exploded at the start of the pandemic as a replacement for in-person visits. Patients and healthcare providers appreciated the convenience, immediacy, and flexibility. The next obvious step in virtual care is the expansion of remote patient monitoring (RPM) which combines real-time data and analytics with personalized care.
Typically, RPM was used to support chronic disease management. This past year, we saw healthcare systems expand their use of RPM to enable programs like hospital-at-home and post-operative care. RPM also helps broaden access to the most vulnerable and underserved populations to begin closing health equity gaps.
Data from wearables, connected devices, and digital health solutions are enhancing the quality of data in EHRs, making way for more personalized care. Digital strategies, for 2022 and beyond, will focus on leveraging this data to improve outcomes; patient and care team experiences; and lower costs.
Sam Munakl, CEO at Cytek
Telemedicine and virtual labs
More in-home testing availability will grow into a more interconnected network of in-home diagnosis and telemedicine sessions. Telemedicine is not new, but the pandemic put medical technology front and center when clinics closed for certain services due to stay-at-home orders. And even when doctors offices were open, some patients avoided in-person appointments due to Covid-19 fears. In 2022, the market for at-home healthcare is predicted to grow significantly and we will see several companies step in to meet demand.
More Remote surgery experiments with the growing 5G network
Until now, remote surgery using wireless networks has been impossible due to the lag time between input and output. This lag usually lasts around a quarter of a second, sometimes as long as 2 seconds — a delay potentially harmful and even possibly fatal to a patient. Now, 5G promises to change all of that with its latency reduced to an almost instantaneous 2 milliseconds between devices. In 2022 and the upgrade to the 5G network in the US, we will see the beginning of 5G surgery. Surgeons will have the option to cover multiple hospitals and oversee surgeries from their home.
Scott Rombach, Founder and CEO at Specialist Direct
Adoption of Telehealth within the United States will increase by 50% in 2022
A significant increase in the utilization of telehealth will be realized through the integration of telehealth technology and expanded usage of remote clinical care across healthcare facilities. This is in contrast to more recent history when adoption of telehealth has been primarily the result of a pandemic driven necessity. Big winners in the telemedicine space, in addition to patients, will be those hospitals and providers that are able to fully embrace telehealth. Specifically, healthcare entities that are able to leverage a combined onsite/remote delivery model for clinical care.
The benefits of telehealth are maximized when onsite physicians can collaborate with remote medical specialists and other clinicians to improve patient care. Through big data and artificial intelligence, there will more metrics which will further quantify the benefits of telehealth solutions. As this data becomes more readily available, telehealth reimbursement rates will increase in both size and scope. The improved reimbursement environment for telehealth will ultimately drive the meaningful adoption of telehealth both short and long-term.
Andy Nieto, Global Healthcare Solutions Manager at Lenovo
Virtual Healthcare Delivery will increasingly focus on “offline” solutions which do not require active provider interaction. Leveraging AI to address triage and chronic mgmt.
Digital Front door with a triage AI will become more popular and as payers try to route members to the cheapest options.
Ron Emerson RN BSN, Global Healthcare Lead at Zoom
Healthcare will become a digital-first system
There will be continued innovation of digital applications in everything from care delivery to medical training. As we saw at Zoomtopia 2021, amazing capabilities like deviceless screening can measure things like pulse and respiration without monitors or medical instruments — by using audio, video, and other technologies available on a person’s mobile phone. Innovations like this could lead us toward a digital-first healthcare system where patients can have even more ways to connect with their care team and manage their health from home, without compromising on quality of care.
James Bateman, CEO at Medchart
Virtual care adoption
The pandemic showed the importance of accelerating the adoption of new healthcare technologies, including virtual care models. Virtual care was reportedly 38 times higher than the pre-COVID baseline. We’ll continue to see adoption of telehealth apps and a supporting health data infrastructure to improve adherence to care plans and improve patient outcomes.
Roger Massengale, Chief Commercial Officer at Eitan Medical
With emergency rooms overpopulated, doctors overwhelmed and hospitals crushing under pressure in response to the pandemic., we saw an increase in telehealth, virtual care and alternate site treatments.
In 2022, we can expect this shift to continue and strengthen with the expansion of RPM (Remote Patient Monitoring) reimbursement codes. Expected to go into effect January 1, 2022, the new RTM (Remote Therapeutic Monitoring) codes (https://www.foley.com/en/insights/publications/2021/07/cms-new-remote-therapeutic-monitoring-codes) may facilitate homecare in three main areas: through allowing the reporting of non-physiologic data; by allowing self-reporting when using FDA-defined medical devices; and by the expansion of billing providers to include nurses and others.
Additionally, home-administered infusion therapies will benefit from the implementation of connected infusion devices, which will help maintain and improve communication between patient and provider. With connected pumps, providers will have access to data that will allow them to determine infusion compliance and drug adherence, enabling intervention when necessary, but also potentially saving precious nursing time.
With the benefit of data analytics, these connected devices may reveal insights that contribute to an improvement in patient outcomes and potentially to a more efficient delivery of care.
Tomer Shussman, Co-Founder and CEO at OneStep
One significant trend for the new year: 2022 will be the year of digital therapeutics. Throughout the pandemic, it became quite apparent that the health of each and every one of us affects the overall wellbeing of our society – in other words, taking care of your own health has become the socially responsible thing to do.
That is why, on both a societal and individual level, digital health and telehealth solutions are becoming more and more an area of focus, with YTD investments up nearly 80% in 2021 compared to 2020. In 2022, digital therapeutics will become increasingly central with growing investments and innovative solutions.
The use of digital therapeutics will also grow in the wake of the new Remote Therapeutic Monitoring (RTM) billing codes set to begin in the new year, where, for the first time, care providers can be reimbursed for more home-based therapy services. This will have a significant impact on the countless individuals who previously lacked access to affordable RTM-based health solutions, bringing improved efficiency, continuity of care, and more success in therapeutics. The new CMS codes will grant countless patients access to extraordinary technological innovations developed in recent years, leading to improved health. By utilizing digital therapeutics, patients can be engaged daily with consistent, sustained, and comprehensive care.
That said, solutions using AI and machine learning alone will not be enough – a key factor in the future of digital therapeutics will be the ability to create hybrid, patient-centric models of treatment where people feel seen and heard by qualified professionals: utilizing a human touch along with technology to create a holistic therapeutic experience.
In short, 2022 will be physical recovery’s time to shine.
Indeed, patients, insurers and providers alike already understand that high quality care can be done remotely, as such a massive transformation has already taken place in the field of mental health care. Unlike mental health, however, physical health is, well, physical, and success in this field will therefore depend on enhanced methods of remote, digital monitoring that can adequately replace in-person monitoring.
Doug Biehn, Chief Commercial Officer at Cala Health
Medtech is quickly evolving towards a digitally-enabled, patient-centered industry. The consumerization of healthcare means that more patients expect to take their health into their own hands, while achieving more affordable care. With these expectations, the medtech industry will need to ensure enhanced experiences for their patient base. We expect to see more sensors help patients achieve this – enabling them to best manage their therapy across a variety of disease states – from insulin management to dialysis to neurostimulation.
Quentin Blackford, President & CEO at iRhythm Technologies, Inc.
In 2022, expect remote patient monitoring to expand as patients and providers rely more heavily on actionable insights from uninterrupted health data. Reactive diagnosis is an insufficient method in preventing negative outcomes, and clinicians will continue to find more value in preemptive, proactive screening.
COVID-19 accelerated the shift toward remote care, and the coming months will likely see increased acceptance of the evolving technology across a variety of stakeholders.
Additionally, companies will continue to work towards improving accessibility for at-risk patient populations. The pandemic exacerbated healthcare access issues for millions, and the medtech industry will prioritize solutions to get care to those that need it most.
Mark Denissen, President and CEO at Anelto
- Virtual telehealth visits will continue to skyrocket as more and more seniors embrace using technologies that monitor their vital signs remotely and let them communicate with a healthcare provider at the push of a button.
- Video will become much more pervasive in remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions. Patients have become accustomed to voice consultations but have struggled with non-healthcare-centric video solutions such as Zoom. RPM providers are now building video technology directly into their systems, providing an easier way for patients to connect with their doctors.
- AI will enable proactive identification and intervention. While RPM solutions provide a wealth or patient vital sign data, it’s when that data is combined with artificial intelligence that it truly is relevant.
If you have other predictions you’d like to share, do so in the comments so we can all learn from each other.
