Athelas Nurse Stories highlight the benefits of preventative care that Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) can bring to your facility. RPM combined with Athelas nurse reviews have helped save hundreds of lives and thousands of dollars of expensive in-patient hospital costs.
Nurse Team Overview
Athelas RPM includes a dedicated team of nurses licensed in every state at no additional cost. The team reviews every incoming datapoint and escalates any concerns to your staff for treatment.
This week’s Nurse Story highlights a patient whose congestive heart failure was misdiagnosed as anxiety until RPM data drove a corrected diagnosis before her condition intensified.
Background of Patient’s Medical Situation
The patient enrolled in Athelas Total Care Program and was sent a connected weight scale to stream their vitals to their provider.
A week prior to receiving their device, the patient visited their provider and reported experiencing shortness of breath resulting in a diagnosis of anxiety with no concomitant treatment.
The patient shrugged off the diagnosis and returned home. However, due to the patient’s weight, the hospital system separately enrolled this patient in Athelas’ Remote Patient Monitoring program.
Rapid Weight Gain and Escalation
The patient received their scale and noticed on the first weigh-in that they had gained 15 pounds since their visit to the doctor four days prior (Figure 1).
Immediately, our Nurse Team jumped into action:
- Within 5 days, the case was reviewed by our Athelas Registered Nurse, Devin
- Devin recognized the pattern as indicating Congestive Heart Failure
- Devin contacted the patient and had them take a quick confirmation reading to confirm accuracy
- After confirming the reading, Devin flagged the case for immediate review by their primary care physician, and reached out to their office to make sure it got immediate attention
The Resolution
Based on the rapid weight increase, the patient visited a provider in a low-cost outpatient setting and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. The patient was prescribed medication to alleviate the condition and has now stabilized in weight. Thanks to early diagnosis, the patient likely avoided a more expensive hospitalization.
“I’m so grateful for the Athelas scale and nurse program; it helped me tremendously. If it weren’t for Athelas RPM, I wouldn’t have known my weight gain was so serious.” - Patient
It’s estimated that every averted case of congestive heart failure - like the one profiled in this case - returns $12,776 dollars back to United States health systems in cost savings.
Give your patients the best care possible.
If you're interested in implementing Remote Patient Monitoring services for your practice, schedule a free demo today.
