Remote Patient Monitoring and the Need for a New Care Model: A Narrative Review of Implementation Challenges

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) has the potential to replace reactive, clinic-based encounters with preventive, continuous care delivered in patients' homes. However, the adoption of RPM has not kept pace with the global ascendance of telehealth in recent years. This narrative review draws on published literature on RPM since 2010, with an emphasis on barriers to RPM program adoption and implementation in clinical settings. Identified challenges to widespread adoption include data overload, ambiguous clinical responsibility, poor integration into existing workflows, and patient and device usability issues. Though the technology itself is reliable, a clearly defined clinical care model is required to maximise the potential of RPM and prevent overburdening healthcare systems. This narrative review suggests that a protocol-driven model with a tiered escalation plan may be beneficial. Future prospective implementation research is required to evaluate the use of alternative, restructured care models for delivering RPM programs.