Chronic diseases are long-lasting conditions that may not be cured but can be controlled with proper management. Virtual care like remote patient monitoring (RPM) makes managing conditions like heart disease and heart failure comfortable, convenient, and cost effective.
The month of February focuses on cardiovascular health as it is American Heart Month. VitalTech’s RPM platform provides chronic care management for many conditions but let’s focus on heart diseases.
Heart Disease and Heart Failure
According to the American Heart Association, nearly half of all of U.S. adults have some form of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 6.2 million suffer from heart failure.1 While neither heart disease or heart failure mean the heart has stopped beating, both of these conditions are serious and can worsen if left untreated. Managing these conditions with RPM has shown significant improvement in patient outcomes.
VitalCare provides patients with consistent quality care that is needed in managing heart related illnesses. Let’s dive deeper into the benefits of using remote patient monitoring for CVD and CHF.
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)
There are many lifestyle changes that are important to help prevent and prolong the symptoms of cardiovascular disease like quitting smoking, healthy eating, and exercising. These lifestyle changes can have a large impact on the future health of a patient. VitalCare can help patients maintain lifestyle changes and manage vitals using BLE or LTE devices.
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, puts individuals at greater risk of developing more serious health problems like heart attacks and strokes. Patients with CVD should be monitoring their blood pressure on a regular basis so that health care providers can be alerted of sudden changes and intervene before a critical health event takes place. According to the American Heart Association, “Research has shown RPM can reduce systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) significantly compared to usual care and self-monitoring alone.” Monitoring blood pressure with VitalCare is simple and easy for patients, with their data transmitting to the provider in real time after each reading.
Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for patients suffering from CVD. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of developing and worsening heart disease. Controlling your weight can lead to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Utilizing a BLE or LTE weight scale with VitalCare enables patients and providers to track and monitor changes in body weight over a period of time. Providers can look at a patient’s weight loss or gain and associate this with factors such as diet, exercise, illness, and medications to make appropriate interventions.
Additionally, VitalCare’s nutrition module can provide key insights into a patient’s diet. Both the provider and patient will be able to look at what foods the patient has been eating and determining if it is full of a well-balanced diet. For example, a provider may utilize VitalCare’s nutrition module to confirm if a patient has been eating fruits, vegetables or whole grains, while avoiding foods with added sugars or sodium.
Congestive Heart Failure
Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure (CHF), occurs when the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood and oxygen to support other organs in the body. CHF is usually developed slowly from long-term medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and certain severe lung diseases like COPD.
Similar to cardiovascular disease, heart failure can develop or worsen due to habits, lifestyles, and medical conditions. Symptoms of heart failure include feeling short of breath, fatigue or weakness after rest, coughing, swelling and weight gain from fluids in ankles, lower legs, or abdomen, and many more. Patients with CHF require regular monitoring and proper management of treatment.
VitalCare is equipped with many ways to help CHF patients engage in their health and allows providers to deliver quality treatment plans designed specifically for each individual patient. VitalCare provides patients with access to medication reminders, nutrition logs, educational resources on their condition, and 24/7 access to a healthcare provider. CHF patients will be equipped with BLE or LTE devices such as a blood pressure monitor, pulse oximeter and weight scale to regularly track health data and vitals which will alert providers of any irregular activity.
Whether you have patients who are struggling from heart disease or heart failure, VitalTech has the solution for you and your patients. If you would like to learn more about the VitalCare platform and various way we can help you and your patients manage heart disease, contact us today!
