Telehealth reduces hospital mortality rates

Investing in telehealth is key for hospital success.

Telehealth lowers cost and widens the reach of clinicians. Busy, tech savvy patients want more access to health care and as providers we have to go where our patients already are: at home.

According to the American Hospitals Association, 70 percent of the “most wired” hospitals in America already provide telehealth.

England leads this new strategy. The National Health Service (NHS) in England implemented a telehealth project entitled“3 Million Lived” by installing remote patient monitoring systems in patients’ homes.

A previous pilot study conducted by the NHS reviewed three cities with over 6,000 patients suffering from three primary conditions: diabetes, heart failure or COPD. The results were powerful: Remote monitoring reduced mortality rates by 45 percent.

Related data from the study was also encouraging:

• 15 percent reduction in emergency room visits
• 20 percent reduction in emergency admissions
• 14 percent reduction in bed days
• 8 percent reduction in total costs per patient

Nicola Ziady, a contributor for Ragan’s Health care Communication News, is manager of Interactive Media and Communications. A version of this article originally appeared on her blog, NicolaZiady.com.