Remote patient monitoring is not exactly new: it has been around for some years now, and there are many CROs and medical companies that already benefit from its advantages. However, its popularity grew considerably after the Covid-19 pandemic and publication of studies showing its efficacy.
In this article, we discuss the pros and cons of RPM and share some of our advice to implement an RPM program for a clinical trial. You will discover that this is essentially a patient-centric approach that can significantly enhance trial outcomes. Save this article for future reference and share it with someone who might be interested in the subject.
What is Remote Patient Monitoring
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) refers to various kinds of devices and software which allow physicians and other healthcare professionals to monitor a patient’s health status (vital signs and symptoms) without needing to meet them in person. This can mean communicating remotely with the patient or automatically collecting data with special devices that can be taken to the patient’s home.
RPM has an increasingly important role in medical research and clinical trials. In clinical studies, high quality data can be generated with the use of wearable devices, sensors, electronic patient reported outcomes, mobile applications and videoconferencing. Vital signs, blood pressure and heart rate are some of the types of data which can be collected remotely and analysed by the research team, reducing the burden both on participants and on the medical specialists.
The Pros: Benefits of Remote Patient Monitoring
The main benefit of remote patient monitoring, as we have just mentioned in the previous section, is reducing the burden on patients, who need to travel less to the study site. This is beneficial because improving the patient’s experience helps reduce dropout rates, enhancing data quality. This is a list of other specific benefits of using RPM:
- Providing enhanced pharmacovigilance
- Allowing collection of real-world evidence and longitudinal data
- Focusing more on the patient’s perspective of the disease progression (leading to more patient-centric clinical trials)
- Improves the efficiency of healthcare during the trial, with more timely responses from medical practitioners
- Considerably increasing flexibility in clinical trial design, as remote activities can be scheduled at the time that is most convenient to everyone involved
The Cons: Challenges of Remote Patient Monitoring
As happens with any new process that replaces traditional methods, implementing remote monitoring will have its challenges. These are, however, more like barriers that can be overcome with practice and planning, rather than actual problems that impede the success of the process. Here are some challenges researchers may face that is worth being aware of:
- The risk of being overwhelmed by too much data. The possibility of collecting and analyzing huge amounts of data easily can lead to unnecessary data collection which will “clutter” the database
- Validating the safety and privacy securing systems, to ensure they are compliant with regulations and protecting patients from the beginning to the end of the trial
- Ensuring that RPM devices and software are user-friendly and can be used by the target patient group with no problems
- Finding an RPM solution that is cost-effective
As you can see, the pros outweigh the cons, and the challenges can be overcome with practice and some expert guidance. In the next section, we will provide some tips to implement an RPM program that can help you avoid these challenges from the start.
How to Set Up an RPM Program
- The remote patient monitoring program must be designed having the study protocol and patient group in mind. There should be a focus on priority data, to avoid excessive data collection that is not essential to this specific study
- Keep alert systems simple, focusing on key symptoms and vital signs, to avoid overwhelming patients
- Consider other aspects of the program that are not only clinical-related, such as platform usability and how it is adapted to the particular needs of your patient group
In a nutshell, the key to avoid risks and barriers when implementing an RPM program is to keep it simple and patient-centric. As much as it can be tempting to include several kinds of data to be collected, one benefits most from RPM when there is a clear focus on essential data. Moreover, the natural patient-centricity of remote monitoring is enhanced when software and devices are designed to be flexible and adaptable to various kinds of patients with different needs and preferences.
ECLEVAR: Leading Digital-First CRO
In this article, we have explored some of the pros and cons of implementing a remote patient monitoring program. However, we also clarified that the challenges are not barriers to implementation that are impossible to overcome. With some planning and expert guidance, your company can benefit fully from the advantages of a decentralized trial implementing remote monitoring.
At ECLEVAR, we have developed second to none knowledge in designing and implementing studies that are patient-centric and prioritize the needs of patients while delivering high quality data. Please contact us if you are interested in cost-effective solutions that will take your trials to the next level.
