Apr 21 (ANI): A new study has found that clinical outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure may be significantly improved by the use of remote monitoring.

Researchers from Canada and Australia, including Dr. Finlay McAlister, from University of Alberta, conducted the study.

Researchers studied the impact of using of remote monitoring (telephone support or tele-monitoring) to electronically transfer a patients’ physiological data such as blood pressure, weight and ECG and oxygen details, to their healthcare provider, that has increased in prevalence over the past years.

Researchers found that remote monitoring for patients with chronic heart failure helped reduce heart failure admissions to hospitals and lowered all cause mortality by nearly twenty per cent.

“What we found is that the use of remote monitoring programs can improve outcomes in patients with heart failure and such an approach could help deal with the increasing number of patients with chronic heart failure that cannot be accommodated in existing specialty clinics due to access issues related to geography, lack of resources or infirmity,” McAlister said.

Remote monitoring (either through close telephone follow-up with specially trained nurses or tele-monitoring involving the daily transmission of a patient’s vital signs, weight and symptoms to health care providers) permits closer follow-up of patients with heart failure, which helps in early detection and management of changes in a patient’s health.

“It must be noted that although we have found substantial benefits with remote monitoring for patients with chronic heart failure, telephone monitoring is not a treatment, but rather a different way of providing effective care,” McAlister said.

“Therefore, programs that include remote monitoring should not be seen as a replacement for specialist care or multidisciplinary care clinics, but instead should be viewed as a potential adjunct,” he added.

The findings of the research were published in The British Medical Journal. (ANI)