A new survey of large healthcare facilities demonstrates how much the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the value of remote patient monitoring (RPM). Conducted by VivaLNK, a global supplier of wearable sensors and connected data services, the survey shows that hospitals and medical centers consider RPM a priority despite some existing barriers to adoption.

Nearly three out of four of survey respondents said they believe patients are hesitant to visit a hospital or doctor’s office in-person. Forty-two percent think that RPM will be as prevalent as in-patient monitoring within five years, while more than a third feel RPM will surpass in-patient monitoring in that time.

Fifty-five percent of respondents are currently using or plan to use RPM to monitor patients with COVID-19. One in five said their organization had already adopted an RPM solution, and 23% plan to install RPM systems within the next 12 months.

The survey also underscores the industry’s need to address barriers to adoption such as cost and lack of electronic health record integration. Reimbursement is essential for large-scale use of RPM, according to 55% of respondents. Another 65% said that widespread adoption depends on successfully integrating electronic health records with RPM platforms.

Continuous remote data collection was preferred by 90% of respondents. That’s not all that surprising considering 24-hour data offers a much more accurate picture of health than the snapshot presented by episodic data collection.

One year ago, the widespread use of continuous data collection happening offsite probably sounded like a luxury to most providers. Now, RPM is offering better information collected more easily while reducing the spread of a deadly virus. With a little more innovation, universal adoption of RPM options could become a reality even sooner than this survey predicts.