Masimo has announced the results of a two-part study that evaluated the impact of remote patient monitoring of Covid-19 patients using Masimo SafetyNet on hospital length of stay (LOS).
The retrospective study was published in Telemedicine and e-Health and was conducted by Dr Hemali Patel and colleagues at the University of Colorado and UC Health (UCH) in Aurora, Colorado.
Masimo SafetyNet is a remote patient management solution that transmits home-based patient monitoring data to hospital doctors using tetherless Masimo Radius PPG SET pulse oximetry and a mobile app.
The study found that Home telemonitoring after discharge for patients with Covid-19 is a safe tool that may reduce the duration of hospitalisation and create more bed capacity.
The researchers found a significant association between shorter hospitalisation and patients discharged with Masimo SafetyNet and without home oxygen.
The researchers sought to assess whether the use of a home telemonitoring system could optimise care, including earlier discharge from the hospital for patients with or suspected to have Covid-19.
Other goals included evaluating whether using a home system can decrease the use of personal protective equipment, decrease the need for hospital beds, and ensure the sustainability of health care capacity and resources for those with more urgent needs.
They performed an RPM feasibility programme using Masimo SafetyNet (study phase 1) from March to June 2020, during the first Covid-19 spike and redeployed it from October 2020 to February 2021 for the second surge (study phase 2).
The researchers remotely monitored oxygen saturation (SpO2), pulse rate, and plethysmographic respiration rate (Masimo RRp) using Masimo SafetyNet with Radius PPG, and the information was sent via Masimo’s HIPAA-compliant secure cloud service.
The company recruited 923 patients in phase 1 (78 discharged with Masimo SafetyNet, 845 without) and 1056 patients in phase 2 (125 discharged with Masimo SafetyNet, 931 without).
It reported a decrease in LOS for patients discharged with Masimo SafetyNet, without an increase in 30-day ED revisits or hospital readmission.
When compared to non-Masimo SafetyNet patients in phase 2, LOS was significantly lower in Masimo SafetyNet patients who were discharged without home oxygen treatment.
