Cardiac patients in Jerusalem who can’t reach a rehab center for regular monitoring have a new treatment option thanks to RMDY Health, OptimizeRx’s digital health management platform, who are leading the way in the emerging clinical usage of remote patient monitoring systems. Through their partnership with O2 Digital Center, patients don’t have to visit the O2 Hadassah Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Hadassah Medical Center. Instead, they are monitored in their everyday life with a device powered by RMDY, and guided by the team at O2 Digital.
Hadassah Cardiac Rehab Center's digital health program transforms patient engagement and outcomes
Dr. Horesh Dor-Haim is the CEO and founder of O2 Digital, and says that while cardiac rehabilitation centers will always be a critical part of the patient treatment ecosphere, they have one key shortcoming. “The problem with these programs is that they’re not accessible to everybody. These centers aren’t available to most people, [particularly in Israel.] So, compliance with traditional treatments are very low—even less than the rest of the western world.”
That’s where programs like the one at Hadassah Cardiac Rehab Center kicks in, offering both patients and providers a wide range of benefits. Patients get a portable EKG telemetric system, which transmits signals to the O2 Digital care team, and are given instructions for specific ways to use it during exercise or even just in everyday life. “The big benefit is that we see the patient in their natural life,” says Horesh. “We can get insight into their vital signs while doing their daily workout, or going through their daily routines.” The system combines mobile technology, artificial intelligence, and supportive services, expanding the delivery of medical care to the patient's home. It also allows remote arrhythmia and ischemia identification.
O2 Digital’s professional team provides continuous support for patients, and is comprised of physiologists, nutritionists, physical therapists, and personal coaches. Communicating directly through RMDY mobile technology, the O2 team can also optimize patients’ medical treatment, nutrition and activity level as well as encourage behavioral changes.
Horesh says, “With this system, it’s possible to set up an in-home program for the patient, and to give them directions that don’t just help us to understand what is going on with the patient, but also help them to get some sort of routine that would enable them to maintain new habits.” One key to the program’s success is this new ability that providers have using these cutting edge devices to impart these routines directly in the context of the patient’s home. “Typically, patients go through cardiovascular programs, and then when they’re done, they quit doing the things they learned. Here, because we’re in the patient’s home, and they’re getting feedback in their own space, patients are more easily able to continue to implement the new habits that we’re helping them learn.”
“Typically, patients go through cardiovascular programs, and then when they’re done, they quit doing the things they learned. Here, because we’re in the patient’s home, and they’re getting feedback in their own space, patients are more easily able to continue to implement the new habits that we’re helping them learn.”
O2 Digital and RMDY partnership allows personalized patient insights
The partnership between O2 Digital and RMDY isn’t just about optimizing treatment. It’s also about identifying potentially life-threatening conditions. To do so, the team reviews the data their patients report on the RMDY app and uses them to detect changes in patient measurements for immediate intervention. Horesh says the program also provides a quicker, easier route to a team treatment approach. “[RMDY and O2] are helping us put groups together all at one time. These groups can see the patient, get special insights, and observe behavior. And each patient benefits from the whole team, which is very unique. It’s very rare that you actually get the time to sit together as a team with access to a patient.”
The combination of telemedicine and digital therapeutics improve patient access to care
As the technology and the treatment both develop further, these combinations of digital therapeutics and telemedicine have a transformative capacity to change how physicians interact with people with medical, financial, social, or other reasons that in-person care is impossible. “This does have the power to transform,” says Horesh. “[We’re bringing] innovation into big systems. We’re not changing guidelines, we’re just offering new tools to make receiving great care easier for patients.”
Just as importantly, the 2+ years that the program has been at work have seen some tremendous results. “In the time this program has run,” says Horesh, “we've seen the transformative power of making it easier for patients to receive the treatments they need. As providers, when we meet patients where they are, outcomes improve. And this combination of high tech and high touch treatment has shown to be very effective in doing just that.”
To learn more about Dr. Horesh’s incredible work with the RMDY team, watch the video below, or check out RMDY.health for more info.
As part of the OptimizeRx team, RMDY Health continues to do great work, furthering our shared goal of improving adherence, and delivering better patient outcomes. This relationship is a great example of the flexibility of the RMDY platform to offer rapid digital transformation to rehab centers. If you’d like to learn more about how they can help you or your patient populations, contact us today.