At-home heart monitoring has been more widely available in recent years with the rise of consumer wearables alongside at-home medical devices, but patients were only slowly adopting the technology. That is changing quickly with the COVID-19 pandemic, as many cardiovascular patients have been reluctant to visit their clinicians in person and are finding at-home monitoring a workable alternative.
Stat News reports, “Nearly every heart-focused health tech company — from startups like AliveCor and iRhythm to medical device giants like Medtronic — has moved recently to make its heart monitoring EKG devices more broadly available for cardiac patients to use at home and for clinicians to use on Covid-19 patients.”
While the greater patient awareness of at-home monitoring is certainly a net positive, there are additional considerations that may give clinicians pause. Many patients who use wearable and at-home monitoring devices may not be aware of why or have much information about conditions such as arrhythmias. In addition, Stat News suggested some are looking to at-home monitoring to follow Covid patients’ response to experimental medications. But while Hydroxychloroquine has been touted as a possible treatment for COVID-19 (though it is still considered under investigation), it can lead to severe heart rhythm irregularities that require additional attention.
At-home monitoring is useful when combined with reliable, trusted information that patients can turn to for understanding their conditions and treatments. Our short, video-based information helps keep patients informed about their cardiovascular conditions. To supplement at-home monitoring, to give them knowledge and understanding behind the data.
What are your thoughts on using at-home monitoring and additional considerations during COVID-19? Discuss with peers on our secure clinician-only forum on CardioVisual.
Watch Learn Share Discuss: