UC Davis Health launches program to monitor PCI patients at-home

Patients will be given connected devices, with their vitals accessed by UC Davis Health clinicians

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a non-surgical procedure used to treat the blockages in a coronary artery; it opens up narrowed or blocked sections of the artery, restoring blood flow to the heart. While the procedure is a minimally invasive, there are still risks involved, including bleeding or infection at the catheter insertion site, as well as blood clots in the heart stent.

Due to the fact that the time between the procedure and a follow-up office visit could be several weeks, and that these patients need to be continuously monitored post-surgery while at home, UC Davis Health announced the launch of a digital care program for patients who have undergone a PCI.

The program leverages the UC-NOW text-messaging platform to provide post-discharge care and Clinii to asynchronously monitor patients’ vitals.

Patients who are enrolled in the program will utilize CliniiMobile Technology; they are provided a weight scale, blood pressure kit, and 4g hub that transmits data directly to their clinical team.

As patients take their blood pressure or step onto the weight scale, their data will be sent to a dashboard accessed by UC Davis Health clinicians. These providers can then reach out to provide care and guidance when there are changes in vitals. The UC Davis Health care team will monitor the data of 200 patients daily; they will take preventive measures to improve health outcomes, with the goal of helping to reduce hospital readmissions.

The remote monitoring program is supported by the American College of Cardiology and the Rosenfeld Foundation.

The Sacramento-based UC Davis Health serves a 33-county, 65,000-square-mile area that stretches north to the Oregon border and east to Nevada.

“This combination of automated text messaging to guide patients and a proactive monitoring program is set to significantly impact patient care post-PCI. This offers a more personalized, digitally enabled, and responsive health care experience,” Vimal Mishra, associate chief medical officer at UC Davis Health, said in a statement.

“The team’s expertise and innovative approach have been instrumental in shaping a solution that promises to transform patient recovery and set new standards in health care delivery moving care at home.” 

This new program leverages remote patient monitoring (RPM) and at-home healthcare, saw of which saw major increases during COVID, and have continued to remain popular even as the pandemic receded. Remote patient monitoring, in particular, has been a hot space for investors as CMS has introduced new codes for RPM and expanded the range of practitioners allowed to provide this type of care. 

Some of the companies that have raised funding in recent years include Prevounce Health, Medical Informatics Corp, Kiddo, and Curv Health.

The global remote patient monitoring market was estimated to be worth $14 billion in 2023, and is poised to reach $41.7 billion by 2028, while the global home healthcare market size was valued at $390.24 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.96% from 2024 to 2030.

(Image source: health.ucdavis.edu)