Tuesday, June 8, 2021
Teresa Sieck

WebCareHealth, a leader in remote patient monitoring, partners with hospitals, health systems, and physician practices to help monitor at-risk patients with chronic conditions.

Through WebCareHealth’s platform, providers are able to more closely monitor patients through real-time data collection and intervene as needed to deliver improved patient care, reduce costs of care, and improve satisfaction for patients and providers.

According to WebCareHealth’s patient survey, 98% of patients rated their experience with the program as ‘Excellent or Good.’ In addition, the majority of patients report getting value from the program from reducing the potential risk of complications; making progress towards their health goals; and knowing that their provider is paying close attention to their health.

Patients surveyed include participating heart failure patients who have been enrolled in the program for at least three months or more.

All patients surveyed report increased awareness of their health by using WebCareHealth. Janet C., 79, used to ignore her congestive heart failure symptoms and wait for her six-month doctor visit to discuss any worrisome episodes.

“WebCareHealth makes me more aware of how I’m feeling on a daily basis. I now pay more attention to symptoms that I used to ignore.”

Ivan P., 81, struggles with diabetes, arthritis, COPD, and sleep apnea. After getting diagnosed with congestive heart failure, he felt overwhelmed.

“Before WebCareHealth, I was told to just take my medicine. That didn’t help very much. I now talk to a nurse three times a week, and they help me pay closer attention to what I’m doing.”

Patients like William W., 81, who suffers from heart failure, report feeling more connected with their care team and like knowing that a WebCareHealth nurse will reach out if something is wrong.

“It’s nice to have someone else interested in what you’re doing. They can tell by looking if things are out of range. We’ve had a couple of times where it didn’t look good. They reported to the doctor, and the doctor called right away and made some changes. That wouldn’t have happened without WebCareHealth.”

All WebCareHealth patients are asked to communicate their data on a routine basis. Patients can use the WebCareHealth app to send their vitals or share their information with a nurse over the phone. Heart failure patients are asked to share their weight, temperature, pulse, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation on a daily basis. They’re also asked how they’re feeling, if they’re experiencing shortness of breath and if they’ve missed their medication.

Weekly questions ask about exercise, salt intake, as well as smoking or alcohol consumption.

For patients like Steve N., 71, seeing his oxygen level, blood pressure, and weight on a daily basis lets him know his health status and what changes he needs to make.

“Now I know what’s going on and what changes I need to make. For me, this means keeping a closer eye on my weight. Since changing my diet and staying away from red meat, white flour, rice, and potatoes, I’ve lost a good bit of weight.”

Steve represents 87 percent of WebCareHealth patients who report the platform as ‘easy’ to use.

“If you have a smartphone, it’s the easiest program to use. It takes a second to enter your data and submit it. Someone will see your numbers right away and reach out if there’s something wrong,” said Connie S., caregiver to her father Dale S.

Providers also rate the WebCareHealth platform as easy to use and report improvements in patient engagement and clinical outcomes.

“WebCareHealth understands the unique challenges care teams face in managing patients with heart failure and AFib. Their platform allows us to get a more complete view of the patient with real-time data and treatment recommendations so we can prevent adverse events,” said Jennifer Farfan, a nurse at MercyOne Iowa Heart Center.