LAUSR

Introduction: Telemedicine is a growing field. Evidence around how remote monitoring in home mechanical ventilation (HMV) can impact upon patient experience, is lacking. Method: This review evaluated the impact of remote monitoring on the patient experiences of HMV. The patients were already established on HMV and selected according to their suitability for remote monitoring. A convenience sample of Ten patients was selected and were asked about their experiences of the HMV remote monitoring service. Results: A total of ten patients were randomly selected to participate in this survey. Three hospital admissions, ten hospital visits and two domiciliary visits have been avoided over the 1-year period, for these patients. All ten patients agreed that they felt reassured that their ventilation was being monitored by a physiotherapist. Nine patients reported that they would have been required to visit the UHS clinic to have changes made to their ventilator settings, if they were not being remotely adjusted. All patients reported that they felt their experience of HMV was improved by the addition of the remote monitoring. Two patients reported that they were more compliant with using their ventilator, as they had been selected for the remote monitoring service. Conclusions: These initial findings suggest that remote monitoring may have a positive impact upon patient experiences of HMV in terms of providing reassurance, reducing the need to attend hospital clinics and improving compliance with the treatment.