Introducing Senior Patients to Remote Patient Monitoring
In recent years, the health industry has made great strides in remote patient monitoring systems. These systems allow doctors to check in on their patients virtually and more easily track their health over time.
Remote monitoring is especially important for senior patients, who are more likely to have long-term health concerns and are less likely to have easy access to a physical doctor’s office.
How Remote Patient Monitoring Can Help Senior Patients
As we age, we typically start to experience more health problems. It’s essential for doctors to be able to accurately monitor those health issues to provide us with the best chance at a long, healthy life.
But for many seniors, getting access to doctors can be difficult. Health insurance coverage often limits the specialists who patients can see, requiring them to travel sometimes hours to be seen for certain conditions.
On top of the insurance limitations, many seniors have limited access to transportation or have difficulties with mobility that make it hard for them to travel at all.
Remote patient monitoring services are a wonderful solution that allows these patients to be seen and monitored from the comfort of their own homes.
How to Introduce Senior Patients to Telehealth
Unfortunately, many people, and seniors especially, might feel uncomfortable with new technology. They may have trouble interpreting new software and learning how it works. Many people are also wary about sharing private health data over an internet connection.
However, as a healthcare provider, there are a few things you can do to explain this new technology to older users and help them see how much more convenient it can be.
Provide Low-Pressure Technology Training
One of the first ways you can help seniors get accustomed to remote healthcare monitoring is to take the time to teach them how the technology works. Provide education in a low-pressure environment, such as in the comfort of their own home or a private session in your office.
Be sure to schedule more than enough time to respectfully explain everything with patience and answer any questions they might have so that they don’t feel rushed. Remind them that RPM is an option, but they do have a choice whether or not to use it.
Explain the Benefits of RPM
Some older patients may not realize how remote patient monitoring services can help them. Kindly showing them the benefits may change their perspective and help them feel more open to the technology.
For example, using RPM means they won’t have to make trips to the doctor’s office as often. They can log in through a virtual portal from their own home for any appointment that doesn’t require a physical exam.
This is especially helpful for conditions that need regular monitoring of symptoms. Remote patient monitoring is particularly useful in cardiology, for example, because patients can use wearable devices and monitoring software to allow physicians to track their heart health virtually, cutting down on the number of in-person appointments needed.
Regular monitoring can also prevent serious issues from being overlooked between appointments, helping patients avoid hospital stays or additional health issues. By giving the physician consistent access to a patient’s health data, they can more easily monitor for concerning trends and treat them accordingly.
Remote healthcare monitoring is also beneficial in severe weather, such as winter storms or hurricanes. Patients can continue to get the care they need without having to risk slipping on ice or driving in difficult conditions to get to their appointments.
Choose an Intuitive RPM Platform
One thing that can help seniors become more comfortable with telehealth is choosing a remote healthcare monitoring platform that is user-friendly and easy for patients to use.
Many seniors struggle with complicated technologies, but there are RPM platforms designed to be simple to navigate to make patient use as painless as possible. Some platforms even offer mobile apps that patients can access quickly and easily from wherever they are.
Provide a Virtual Help Desk
Offering a virtual help desk that patients can call when they run into problems can also help smooth the transition to remote patient monitoring. Senior patients may feel more at ease if they can contact someone to walk them through any processes they might need to complete virtually.
Offer Health Data Safety Education
Be sure to educate your senior patients on how to protect their health data when transferring it virtually. Remind them to attend their virtual appointments from a secure, private location, such as a private room in their home. Caution them against sending data over an unfamiliar internet connection, such as a public wifi hotspot. It may also help to assure them that their data is safe within the remote healthcare monitoring platform and will not be shared by the healthcare office that receives it.
Try Remote Patient Monitoring with Your Senior Patients
If you’d like to add remote patient monitoring to your office or healthcare facility, check out CoachCare’s telehealth options. We offer an intuitive platform that connects to a variety of remote monitoring technologies to give you the clearest picture of your patients’ health.