Patient Satisfaction With a Multisite, Multiregional Remote Patient Monitoring Program for Acute and Chronic Condition Management: Survey-Based Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is an option for continuously managing the care of patients in the comfort of their homes or locations outside hospitals and clinics. Patient engagement with RPM programs is essential for achieving successful outcomes and high quality of care. When relying on technology to facilitate monitoring and shifting disease management to the home environment, it is important to understand the patients' experiences to enable quality improvement. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe patients' experiences and overall satisfaction with an RPM program for acute and chronic conditions in a multisite, multiregional health care system. METHODS: Between January 1, 2021, and August 31, 2022, a patient experience survey was delivered via email to all patients enrolled in the RPM program. The survey encompassed 19 questions across 4 categories regarding comfort, equipment, communication, and overall experience, as well as 2 open-ended questions. Descriptive analysis of the survey response data was performed using frequency distribution and percentages. RESULTS: Surveys were sent to 8535 patients. The survey response rate was 37.16% (3172/8535) and the completion rate was 95.23% (3172/3331). Survey results indicated that 88.97% (2783/3128) of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the program helped them feel comfortable managing their health from home. Furthermore, 93.58% (2873/3070) were satisfied with the RPM program and ready to graduate when meeting the program goals. In addition, patient confidence in this model of care was confirmed by 92.76% (2846/3068) of the participants who would recommend RPM to people with similar conditions. There were no differences in ease of technology use according to age. Those with high school or less education were more likely to agree that the equipment and educational materials helped them feel more informed about their care plans than those with higher education levels. CONCLUSIONS: This multisite, multiregional RPM program has become a reliable health care delivery model for the management of acute and chronic conditions outside hospitals and clinics. Program participants reported an excellent overall experience and a high level of satisfaction in managing their health from the comfort of their home environment.

A semantic similarity based methodology for predicting protein-protein interactions: Evaluation with P53-interacting kinases.

Biomedical literature contains unstructured, rich information regarding proteins, ligands, diseases as well as biological pathways in which they are involved. Systematically analyzing such textual corpus has the potential for biomedical discovery of new protein-protein interactions and hidden drug indications. For this purpose, we have investigated a methodology that is based on a well-established text mining tool, Word2Vec, for the analysis of PubMed full text articles to derive word embeddings, and the use of a simple semantic similarity comparison either by itself or in conjunction with k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) technique for the prediction of new relationships. To test this methodology, three lines of retrospective analyses of a dataset with known P53-interacting proteins have been conducted. First, we demonstrated that Word2Vec semantic similarity can infer functional relatedness among all kinases known to interact with P53. Second, in a series of time-split experiments, we demonstrated that both a simple similarity comparison and kNN models built with papers published up to a certain year were able to discover P53 interactors described in later publications. Third, in a different scenario of time-split experiments, we examined the predictions of P53-interacting proteins based on the kNN models built on data prior to a certain split year for different time ranges past that year, and found that the cumulative number of correct predictions was indeed increasing with time. We conclude that text mining of research papers in the PubMed literature based on Word2Vec analysis followed by a simple similarity comparison or kNN modeling affords excellent predictions of protein-protein interactions between P53 and kinases, and should have wide applications in translational biomedical studies such as repurposing of existing drugs, drug-drug interaction, and elucidation of mechanisms of action for drugs.

Feasibility and Usability of a Mobile App-Based Interactive Care Plan for Migraine in a Community Neurology Practice: Development and Pilot Implementation Study.

BACKGROUND: Migraine is a common and major cause of disability, poor quality of life, and high health care use. Access to evidence-based migraine care is limited and projected to worsen. Novel mobile health app-based tools may effectively deliver migraine patient education to support self-management, facilitate remote monitoring and treatment, and improve access to care. The risk that such an intervention may increase the care team workload is a potential implementation barrier. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to describe a novel electronic health record-integrated mobile app-based Migraine Interactive Care Plan (MICP) and evaluate its feasibility, usability, and impact on care teams in a community neurology practice. METHODS: Consecutive enrollees between September 1, 2020, and February 16, 2022, were assessed in a single-arm observational study of usability, defined by 74.3% (127/171) completing ≥1 assigned task. Task response rates, rate and type of care team escalations, and patient-reported outcomes were summarized. Patients were prospectively recruited and randomly assigned to routine care with or without the MICP from September 1, 2020, to September 1, 2021. Feasibility was defined by equal to or fewer downstream face-to-face visits, telephone contacts, and electronic messages in the MICP cohort. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare continuous variables, and the chi-square test was used for categorical variables for those with at least 3 months of follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 171 patients were enrolled, and of these, 127 (74.3%) patients completed ≥1 MICP-assigned task. Mean escalations per patient per month was 0.9 (SD 0.37; range 0-1.7). Patient-confirmed understanding of the educational materials ranged from 26.6% (45/169) to 56.2% (95/169). Initial mean headache days per week was 4.54 (SD 2.06) days and declined to 2.86 (SD 1.87) days at week 26. The percentage of patients reporting favorable satisfaction increased from a baseline of 35% (20/57) to 83% (15/18; response rate of 42/136, 30.9% to 28/68, 41%) over the first 6 months. A total of 121 patients with MICP were compared with 62 patients in the control group. No differences were observed in the rate of telephone contacts or electronic messages. Fewer face-to-face visits were observed in the MICP cohort (13/121, 10.7%) compared with controls (26/62, 42%; P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: We describe the successful implementation of an electronic health record-integrated mobile app-based care plan for migraine in a community neurology practice. We observed fewer downstream face-to-face visits without increasing telephone calls, medication refills, or electronic messages. Our findings suggest that the MICP has the potential to improve patient access without increasing care team workload and the need for patient input from diverse populations to improve and sustain patient engagement. Additional studies are needed to assess its impact in primary care.

Quality Frameworks for Virtual Care: Expert Panel Recommendations.

Given the significant advance of virtual care in the past year and half, it seems timely to focus on quality frameworks and how they have evolved collaboratively across health care organizations. Massachusetts General Hospital's (MGH) Center for TeleHealth and Mass General Brigham's (MGB) Virtual Care Program are committed to hosting annual symposia on key topics related to virtual care. Subject matter experts across the country, health care organizations, and academic medical centers are invited to participate. The inaugural MGH/MGB Virtual Care Symposium, which focused on rethinking curriculum, competency, and culture in the virtual care era, was held on September 2, 2020. The second MGH/MGB Virtual Care Symposium was held on November 2, 2021, and focused on virtual care quality frameworks. Resultant topics were (1) guiding principles necessary for the future of virtual care measurement; (2) best practices deployed to measure quality of virtual care and how they compare and align with in-person frameworks; (3) evolution of quality frameworks over time; (4) how increased adoption of virtual care has impacted patient access and experience and how it has been measured; (5) the pitfalls and barriers which have been encountered by organizations in developing virtual care quality frameworks; and (6) examples of how quality frameworks have been applied in various use cases. Common elements of a quality framework for virtual care programs among symposium participants included improving the patient and provider experience, a focus on achieving health equity, monitoring success rates and uptime of the technical elements of virtual care, financial stewardship, and clinical outcomes. Virtual care represents an evolution in the access to care paradigm that helps keep health care aligned with other modern industries in digital technology and systems adoption. With advances in health care delivery models, it is vitally important that the quality measurement systems be adapted to include virtual care encounters. New methods may be necessary for asynchronous transactions, but synchronous virtual visits and consults can likely be accommodated in traditional quality frameworks with minimal adjustments. Ultimately, quality frameworks for health care will adapt to hybrid in-person and virtual care practices.

Pilot implementation to assess the feasibility and care team impact of an app-based interactive care plan to remotely monitor breast cancer survivors.

PURPOSE: To assess the feasibility of an app-based, electronic health record (EHR)-integrated, interactive care plan (ICP) for breast cancer (BC) survivors. METHODS: A single-arm pilot study was conducted with female BC survivors. ICP tasks included quarterly quality of life (QOL) questionnaire; monthly assessments of fatigue, insomnia, sexual dysfunction, hot flashes, and recurrence symptoms; and daily activity reminders. Embedded decision trees escalated recurrence symptoms to providers. On-demand education was available for self-management of treatment-related toxicities. The primary objective was to assess patients' engagement with ICP tasks against feasibility thresholds of 75% completion rate. Secondary objectives were evaluation of the system's functionality to track and escalate symptoms appropriately, and care team impact measured by volume of escalation messages generated. We report preliminary results 6 months after the last patient enrolled. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients enrolled August to November 2020. Mean age was 50.1 years. All patients engaged with at least one ICP task. The monthly average task completion rates were 62% for the QOL questionnaire, 59% for symptom assessments, and 37% for activity reminders. Task completion rate decreased over time. Eleven of 253 symptoms and QOL questionnaires (4.3%) generated messages for care escalation. CONCLUSION: Implementation of an app-based, EHR-integrated ICP in BC survivors was feasible and created minimal provider burden; however, patient engagement was below the feasibility threshold suggesting that changes may enhance broad implementation and adoption. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: An ICP may facilitate remote monitoring, symptom control, and recurrence surveillance for cancer survivors as strategies to enhance patient engagement are applied.

Development and implementation of a nurse-based remote patient monitoring program for ambulatory disease management.

Introduction: Numerous factors are intersecting in healthcare resulting in an increased focus on new tools and methods for managing care in patients' homes. Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is an option to provide care at home and maintain a connection between patients and providers to address ongoing medical issues. Methods: Mayo Clinic developed a nurse-led RPM program for disease and post-procedural management to improve patient experience, clinical outcomes, and reduce health care utilization by more directly engaging patients in their health care. Enrolled patients are sent a technology package that includes a digital tablet and peripheral devices for the collection of symptoms and vital signs. The data are transmitted from to a hub integrated within the electronic health record. Care team members coordinate patient needs, respond to vital sign alerts, and utilize the data to inform and provide individualized patient assessment, patient education, medication management, goal setting, and clinical care planning. Results: Since its inception, the RPM program has supported nearly 22,000 patients across 17 programs. Patients who engaged in the COVID-19 RPM program experienced a significantly lower rate of 30-day, all-cause hospitalization (13.7% vs. 18.0%, P = 0.01), prolonged hospitalization >7 days (3.5% vs. 6.7%, P = 0.001), intensive care unit (ICU) admission (2.3% vs. 4.2%, P = 0.01), and mortality (0.5% vs. 1.7%, P = 0.01) when compared with those enrolled and unengaged with the technology. Patients with chronic conditions who were monitored with RPM upon hospital discharge were significantly less likely to experience 30-day readmissions (18.2% vs. 23.7%, P = 0.03) compared with those unmonitored. Ninety-five percent of patients strongly agreed or agreed they were likely to recommend RPM to a friend or family member. Conclusions: The Mayo Clinic RPM program has generated positive clinical outcomes and is satisfying for patients. As technology advances, there are greater opportunities to enhance this clinical care model and it should be extended and expanded to support patients across a broader spectrum of needs. This report can serve as a framework for health care organizations to implement and enhance their RPM programs in addition to identifying areas for further evolution and exploration in developing RPM programs of the future.

Impact of a High-Risk, Ambulatory COVID-19 Remote Patient Monitoring Program on Utilization, Cost, and Mortality.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate care utilization, cost, and mortality among high-risk patients enrolled in a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remote patient monitoring (RPM) program. METHODS: This retrospective analysis included patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at risk for severe disease who enrolled in the RPM program between March 2020 and October 2021. The program included in-home technology for symptom and physiologic data monitoring with centralized care management. Propensity score matching established matched cohorts of RPM-engaged (defined as ≥1 RPM technology interactions) and non-engaged patients using a logistic regression model of 59 baseline characteristics. Billing codes and the electronic death certificate system were used for data abstraction from the electronic health record and reporting of care utilization and mortality endpoints. RESULTS: Among 5796 RPM-enrolled patients, 80.0% engaged with the technology. Following matching, 1128 pairs of RPM-engaged and non-engaged patients comprised the analysis cohorts. Mean patient age was 63.3 years, 50.9% of patients were female, and 81.9% were non-Hispanic White. Patients who were RPM-engaged experienced significantly lower rates of 30-day, all-cause hospitalization (13.7% vs 18.0%, P=.01), prolonged hospitalization (3.5% vs 6.7%, P=.001), intensive care unit admission (2.3% vs 4.2%, P=.01), and mortality (0.5% vs 1.7%; odds ratio, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.12 to 0.78; P=.01), as well as cost of care ($2306.33 USD vs $3565.97 USD, P=0.04), than those enrolled in RPM but non-engaged. CONCLUSION: High-risk COVID-19 patients enrolled and engaged in an RPM program experienced lower rates of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, mortality, and cost than those enrolled and non-engaged. These findings translate to improved hospital bed access and patient outcomes.

Implementation of a multisite, interdisciplinary remote patient monitoring program for ambulatory management of patients with COVID-19.

Established technology, operational infrastructure, and nursing resources were leveraged to develop a remote patient monitoring (RPM) program for ambulatory management of patients with COVID-19. The program included two care-delivery models with different monitoring capabilities supporting variable levels of patient risk for severe illness. The primary objective of this study was to determine the feasibility and safety of a multisite RPM program for management of acute COVID-19 illness. We report an evaluation of 7074 patients served by the program across 41 US states. Among all patients, the RPM technology engagement rate was 78.9%. Rates of emergency department visit and hospitalization within 30 days of enrollment were 11.4% and 9.4%, respectively, and the 30-day mortality rate was 0.4%. A multisite RPM program for management of acute COVID-19 illness is feasible, safe, and associated with a low mortality rate. Further research and expansion of RPM programs for ambulatory management of other acute illnesses are warranted.

A Scalable Framework for Telehealth: The Mayo Clinic Center for Connected Care Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: The Mayo Clinic Center for Connected Care has an established organizational framework for telehealth care delivery. It provides patients, consumers, care teams, and referring providers access to clinical knowledge through technologies and integrated practice models. Central to the framework are teams that support product management and operational functions. They work together across the asynchronous, synchronous video telemedicine, remote patient monitoring (RPM), and mobile core service lines. Methods: The organizational framework of the Center for Connected Care and Mayo Clinic telehealth response to the COVID-19 pandemic is described. Barriers to telehealth delivery that were addressed by the public health emergency are also reported. This report was deemed exempt from full review by the Mayo Clinic IRB. Results: After declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was rapid growth in established telehealth offerings, including patient online services account creation, secure messaging, inpatient eConsults, express care online utilization, and video visits to home. Census for the RPM program for patients with chronic conditions remained stable; however, its framework was rapidly adapted to develop and implement a COVID-19 RPM service. In addition to this, other new telehealth and virtual care services were created to support the unique needs of patients with COVID-19 symptoms or disease and the health care workforce, including a digital COVID-19 self-assessment tool and video telemedicine solutions for ambulances, emergency departments, intensive care units, and designated medical-surgical units. Conclusion: Rapid growth, adoption, and sustainability of telehealth services through the COVID-19 pandemic were made possible by a scalable framework for telehealth and alignment of regulatory and reimbursement models.

Ontology-Based Interactive Visualization of Patient-Generated Research Questions.

BACKGROUND: Crohn's disease and colitis are chronic conditions that affect every facet of patients' lives (e.g., social interaction, family, work, diet, and sleep). Thus, treatment consists largely of disease management. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill chapter of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation-IBD Partners-has created an interactive website that, in addition to providing helpful information and disease management tools, provides a discussion forum for patients to talk about their experiences and suggest new lines of research into Crohn's disease and colitis. OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this work is to enable researchers to more effectively browse the forum content. Researchers wish to identify important/popular patient-suggested research topics, appreciate the full breadth of the research topics, and see connections between them, in order to more effectively prioritize research agendas. METHODS: To help structure the forum content we have developed an ontology describing the major themes in the discussion forum. We have also created a prototype interactive visualization tool that leverages the ontology to help researchers identify common themes and related patient-generated research topics via linked views of (1) the ontology, (2) a research topic overview clustered by relevant ontology terms, and (3) a detailed view of the discussion forum content. RESULTS: We discuss visualizations and interactions enabled by the visualization tool, provide an example scenario using the tool, and discuss limitations and future work based on feedback from potential users. CONCLUSION: The integration of a user-community specific ontology with an interactive visualization tool is a promising approach for enabling researchers to more effectively study user-generated research questions.