Latest Report From Chilmark Research Uncovers Opportunities In Burgeoning Remote Patient Monitoring Sector

Emerging industry holds huge potential for value-driven care delivery, though market remains in its infancy

The US healthcare system's shift towards value-based care has ignited an interest in new models of virtual, connected healthcare. As defined by Chilmark Research in their latest report, Migration to Connected Health: Opportunities and Challenges in Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), 'Connected Health' is the application of technology to connect and extend healthcare delivery system (people, tools, facilities, and so on) in an ongoing, virtual, semi-automated manner across a patient population.

While RPM may be a simple concept to understand, Chilmark's research revealed a complex landscape with different technology models and business cases. Carefully dissecting the approaches taken by a wide array of industries - medical device manufacturers, enterprise software vendors, pharmaceutical companies, health insurers, and several startups - this research report presents an underlying, multi-stage model for turning patient sensors into an actionable, real-time data feedback loop.

Naveen Rao, lead analyst and author for this report noted: "We are seeing tremendous interest from all parties in remote monitoring and connected health. The central challenge is that vendors of such solutions have had few interactions with provider organizations, as there hasn't been a clear business case. The current migration to value-based care is finally making a clear business case for RPM adoption.

However, the challenge now is how to scale RPM capabilities. Issues such as optimizing workflow for a nurse care manager, selecting the right components for sensors, patient identification, call centers etc. are all new areas for most health systems in the context of virtual care delivery. This report seeks to provide a practical guide for all sides to reference as they begin exploring how to turn virtual care models into reality."

In compiling this report, Chilmark Research spoke with over a dozen organizations from across the healthcare landscape - payers, providers, and vendors. The resulting analysis features specific examples from best-in-class vendors and delivery systems, as well as insight into how connected health is evolving in the face of shifting technology and payment landscapes.

The report uncovers a set of wide-ranging market trends, including but not limited to the commoditization of the sensor and hardware landscape, the evolution of pricing models as vendors pivot from payer-driven pilots towards enterprise-level deployments, the emergence of cloud-based platforms and their influence on virtual care, and an analysis of recent industry partnerships and acquisitions and their implications.

Providers have their work cut out for them, both in understanding their own needs, assets, and business objectives when it comes to RPM, and making sense of a fragmented vendor landscape. To this end, the report offers a concrete set of insights to health system executives, vendors, consultants, and others interested in building a connected health model:

• A classification schema that organizes the remote monitoring vendors into five overarching categories by technology and service offerings
• Considerations from a technology perspective, including the role of the EHR, analytics tools, and hardware sensors
• Overview of financing new virtual care programs through an emerging set of incentives and new billing codes
• Practical starting points for staff training, cost-benefit analyses, vendor selection, and other considerations for first time deployments
• Other underrated but critical components that most vendors tend to overlook, such as the importance of proper patient onboarding

The report is available to subscribers of the Chilmark Advisory Service or may be purchased separately.

For more information, visit www.chilmarkresearch.com/reports.

About Chilmark Research
Chilmark Research is the only industry analyst firm focusing solely on the most transformational trends in healthcare IT. We combine proven research methodologies with intelligence and insight to provide cogent analyses of the emerging technologies that have the greatest potential to improve healthcare. We do not shy away from making tough calls, and are respected in the industry for our direct and thoughtful commentary. For more information, visitwww.chilmarkresearch.com/.