American Heart Association unveils RPM program for heart failure

The American Heart Association has launched a remote patient monitoring, or RPM, program that provides cardiac care to heart failure patients at home after hospitalization.

Called American Heart Association Connected Care, the program aims to reduce 30-day readmissions and deliver personalized support to heart failure patients after discharge from the hospital. The association is collaborating with RPM provider Cadence to operate the program. Cadence will enroll patients, provide them with the needed RPM devices and show them how to use them. Cadence's virtual provider group will monitor the vital sign readings and offer clinical support.

The association is working with participating hospitals to integrate the Connected Care program into discharge workflows so that they can directly refer patients. Four hospitals are currently participating in the program pilot: Texas Health Allen in Texas, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula in California, Rutherford Regional Medical Center and Frye Regional Medical Center, both in North Carolina.

"Our legacy is built on bringing science to life and meeting people where they are to reimagine how healthcare is delivered," said John Meiners, chief of mission-aligned businesses at the American Heart Association, in the press release. "By combining advanced remote patient monitoring technology with our expertise in guideline-directed care and chronic condition management, we can help extend the high-quality care hospitals provide, ensuring people with heart failure receive proactive, timely support at home when they need it most."

The program launch comes as health systems increasingly turn to RPM, especially for chronic disease management.

For instance, a 2023 survey revealed that healthcare organizations primarily deployed RPM programs for chronic disease care, including hypertension (26 percent), diabetes (25 percent) and heart care (20 percent).

Several prominent health systems have detailed their efforts to use RPM to enhance cardiac care, including programs targeting heart failure readmissions. 

However, prior research has called into question RPM's efficacy in reducing heart failure readmissions. A JAMA Internal Medicine study published in 2022 found that a year-long RPM program to care for heart failure patients post-hospitalization did not reduce readmissions or mortality.

The study included 552 heart failure patients, 280 of whom received usual care, while 272 received a compound RPM intervention. Researchers assessed the patients' time to death and readmission in the 12 months following treatment.

Though there were slightly fewer readmissions in the intervention group, researchers found no significant difference between the two groups with regard to all-cause inpatient readmission or death.

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers the virtual healthcare landscape, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics.