Remote Patient Monitoring for COVID-19 Patients: Comparisons and Framework for Reporting

Abstract

BackgroundRemote patient monitoring (RPM) has been implemented for COVID-19 patients by various health services at speed, without the opportunity to learn one from another. A lack of standardised reporting has hindered evaluation of RPM.AimsThe aims of this overview of RPM for COVID-19 patients are twofold: (1) to provide tabulated, descriptive information for a range of implementations to facilitate familiarization, learning and comparison; and based on this(2) to develop a framework for reporting to improve reporting consistency as a first step towards the development of reporting guidelines for RPM.MethodA rapid review of the literature for RPM for COVID-19 patients was conducted seeking studies that provided details of a specific implementation of RPM with sufficient information to compare one with another. The content of these articles was then reviewed and synthesised to a tabular format under common headings to facilitate ready comparison and to highlight omissions in reporting. Reporting consistencies and inconsistencies between the studies were then considered to develop a framework for reporting.ResultsThe studies suggested key common characteristics outlined under four headings: context, technology, process, and metrics. These were further divided into subheadings to provide a consistent tabular format to aid familiarization. Consideration of consistencies and inconsistencies in reporting suggests the following criteria be used for reporting: Dates, Rationale, Patients, Medical team, Technology provider, Communication mode, Patient equipment, Patient training, Staff training, Markers, Data Input Frequency, Thresholds for Escalation, Discharge and Metrics for: RPM Enrollment, Escalation, Patient acceptance, Staff acceptance, and Patient adherence.