At-home vital sign monitoring helps Montage Medical Group patients stay ahead of health trouble
Jose Rafael Ramos can't say for sure whether an innovative at-home health monitoring system saved his life earlier this year, but the Montage Medical Group patient does know he is alive to tell the story as he approaches his 90th birthday in February.
Ramos was at his Monterey home on January 31, 2024, when he discovered that his blood pressure was dangerously high. An at-home health monitoring system, provided through Montage Health's Connected Care program, detected the potential crisis.
This could have ended very differently without such a swift response. If your blood pressure readings are out of range, you’re at increased risk for a stroke and heart attack. This active monitoring system gives us feedback a lot sooner so we can initiate treatment faster. It’s been a game-changer.
— Dr. Pablo Veliz, primary care doctor, Montage Medical Group
Since 2023, Montage Health's Connected Care program has partnered with Cadence, an organization staffed by advanced practice providers, nurses, and other medical professionals, to remotely monitor the vital signs of enrolled Montage Medical Group patients with heart failure, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.
"I take my own blood pressure once per day using a cuff that instantly transmits the information to Cadence, a clinician, and my phone," Ramos explains. When he saw the high reading, he proactively called Cadence's emergency number and spoke to a nurse whose incident report states that while on the phone, "the patient exhibited labored breathing."
The nurse called 911. Emergency medical services responded to Ramos's home and transported him to the Emergency department at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. He showed signs of distress but was soon stabilized.
"This could have ended very differently without such a swift response," says Pablo Veliz, Ramos's primary care doctor at Montage Medical Group. "If your blood pressure readings are out of range, you're at increased risk for a stroke and heart attack. This active monitoring system gives us feedback a lot sooner so we can initiate treatment faster. It's been a game-changer."
The outcome couldn't have been better for Ramos, his wife Yvonne, their six adult children, and six grandchildren. The retired Monterey County land use attorney is a published author, a regular contributor to a local monthly humor publication, Foolish Times, exercises three to four times per week at a local gym, and is glad to soon be celebrating his 90th birthday with his family.
Innovating to serve more patients with high-quality healthcare
Rapid response — though rarely needed — is just one benefit of the at-home health monitoring system. The increased frequency of biomedical data it provides helps improve management of chronic illnesses by giving healthcare providers information to address issues before they become a crisis. And since these patients don't have to leave their homes, patients who need face-to-face care have increased access to in-person appointments.
Since the program launched last year, nearly 1,000 patients have enrolled, providing an average of six vital readings per week. By partnering with the clinicians at Cadence for remote vital sign monitoring, Montage Medical Group providers can focus more time on direct patient care.
The Connected Care program is only available to certain patients, but Montage Medical Group hopes to expand access soon and is looking into remote monitoring for other conditions including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
