Remote patient monitoring at home: what to expect.

Before the device arrives

This guide is about remote patient monitoring and what to expect once a clinician has ordered it. You take a measurement at home, the device sends it to the practice, and staff there watch the pattern between visits.

The practice should explain the program and ask for your consent first. Ask then what you may owe, whether the device must be returned, and how to stop. Our page on remote patient monitoring at home explains who orders it and why.

Setting up

Some devices send readings on their own over a cellular signal, and others use a phone app.

• Choose one spot and keep the device there. A cuff needs a chair with a back and a table. A scale needs a hard, flat floor, not carpet.
• Take the first reading with someone from the practice watching.
• Keep the charger or spare batteries, and the program’s support number, with the device.

Taking readings the practice can trust

The practice will teach you its own method. In general:

Blood pressure. Sit quietly for a few minutes, with your back supported, feet flat on the floor and your arm resting on a table. Put the cuff on bare skin. Do not talk during the reading. Caffeine, tobacco and exercise shortly beforehand can raise the number.

Which arm. Ask before you start. A cuff should not go over a wound or dressing. Mention a dialysis access, an IV line or arm swelling after breast or lymph node surgery, because some arms should not be used.

Weight. Weigh at the same time each morning, after using the bathroom and before breakfast, in similar clothing. A protective boot or thick dressing adds weight, so ask how to handle that and do it the same way every day.

Oxygen level. Use a warm, still hand. Cold fingers and nail polish can throw off the reading.

Blood sugar. Test at the times your clinician asked for, with clean, dry hands. Traces of food on a fingertip can change the result.

What happens to your numbers

Readings go to the treating practice, where staff review them on a set schedule. No one sees a reading at the moment you take it. You may get a call when a number falls outside the range chosen for you, or when readings stop arriving.

One odd number rarely changes the plan. The clinician acts on patterns and decides what to do about them. Our pages on blood pressure and heart follow-up and diabetes care explain how the numbers are used.

The first few weeks

Early readings are often uneven while you learn the routine. A few habits help:

1. If a reading seems wrong, rest for five minutes and repeat it once. Repeated checking mostly adds worry.
2. Note anything unusual, such as a bad night, a missed meal or pain during a dressing change.
3. Ask the practice which numbers, high or low, should make you call.
4. Do not change a dose, skip a medicine or take extra because of a reading, unless your prescriber has given you written instructions for that situation.

Common snags

• A reading did not send. Check the batteries, move the device near a window and try again. If that fails, call the support number.
• The cuff feels too tight or slides down. The wrong size gives wrong numbers. Ask for a different cuff.
• You will be away. Tell the practice about travel or a hospital stay.
• Someone else wants to try it. Only your own readings should go through the device.

If you have a wound or swollen legs

Home readings do not measure a wound, but they track things that affect it. In heart failure, a quick rise in weight often comes with more leg swelling and more drainage from leg wounds, as our guide to heart failure, swelling and skin explains. For diabetes, see wound care and blood sugar.

Tell the wound care team which practice receives your readings. Gateway can pass that along when we coordinate care for venous leg ulcers or other wounds.

When to call, and when to call 911

Call the practice for a reading outside your range or for symptoms that worry you. How you feel matters more than the number on the screen.

Call 911 for chest pain, trouble breathing, fainting, sudden confusion, or a drooping face, arm weakness or slurred speech. Do not send a reading and wait.

Gateway arranges in-home primary care follow-up with partner clinicians in Greater St. Louis and the Metro East and keeps your existing physician involved. Call 314-325-0126 or request a callback with a name and phone number only.

Common questions

Related pages

• Remote patient monitoring
• Blood pressure and heart health
• Diabetes care
• Heart failure, swelling and skin
• Chronic care management for patients
• Wound care and blood sugar
• Fall prevention during wound recovery
• Preventive care for homebound adults