A study by scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine, one that took over 8 years to craft, became an overnight sensation in the health community, particularly among healthcare providers. It was a paradigm-shifting investigation that shed light on the benefits of continuous health monitoring — even when a person showed no sign of illness.

Research detected, through the uses of wearable tech, genome sequencing, microbial profiling, and good old fashion monitoring, 67 health alerts that could have been treated before they became an issue. 67 future health crises that thanks to being spotted early could be mitigated — many of these findings would have been missed in traditional health screenings.

In this blog article, we’re going to tell you what continuous health monitoring is, how it works and what it will look like in a couple of years. 

What Is Continuous Health Monitoring?

The goal of continuous patient health monitoring is to identify any changes in a person’s condition that might indicate an illness or disease. These changes can be identified before they become serious enough to require medical attention.

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Continuous health monitoring provides information about a person’s condition and allows for early detection and treatment of illnesses, which helps reduce the severity of the illness and the cost of treatment.

The practice is generally new, and in many ways is right now, thanks to technology, only getting its running feet. It is still very much in the inception stage but massive changes in monitoring tools – such as warbles and related software – are about to hit the limelight and blow current traditional healthcare models. 

Continuous health monitoring works by integrating diagnostic devices, worn on the body or used at home to identify any possible health-related issues that are still in their infancy — and early manifestation of a disease.

The tech uses state-of-the-art software and hardware to recollect baseline data and correlate it, not only to our unique genetic profile but to an industry-wide medical repository. This correlation allows doctors and software to extract actionable conclusions. 

Today, thanks to consumer devices, such as wearables – for example, smartwatches – continuous health monitoring is entering a new phase. Not only is it easier for healthcare providers to adopt some of these devices, but consumers, in general, have received them openly and are actively using them.

Companies, thanks to this massive adoption rate, are developing a vast variety of devices for continuous monitoring. To the point that headphones, such as Apple’s AirPods – can monitor a person’s blood oxygen level. Today, almost all tech is being redesigned with the idea of integrating health-related applications into the next generation. 

Continuous Patient Monitoring Benefits for Healthcare Providers 

The benefits of continuous health monitoring are clear. Continuous health monitoring systems like CareMate can help people to stay healthy, monitor their progress, and prevent any potential problems from arising. 

Here are some of the continuous patient monitoring benefits:

Ease

The most common way to monitor one’s health is by getting regular check-ups at the doctor’s office. This is not an ideal situation because it requires people to take time off work and find someone to watch their children or pets while they are away. That is no longer the case with continuous health monitoring systems.

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A Clear Biological Picture

Devices, worn all day and constantly, create a unique baseline profile of each person. This not only gives doctors more exact information on a person’s one-of-a-kind biology, but it allows them to craft better treatments when needed — ones that are specific to that person’s genetics.

Reduces Costs

Both for the consumer as well as the healthcare provider, continuous health monitoring, reduces costs. By adopting tech, there is less of a need for physicians and costs associated with a brick and mortar facility such as a hospital.

Privacy 

Data is safeguarded with redundancy measures at the end-point — in other words, right from where said data is being recollected. Only people with permission can access this data. Not only that, but by incorporating blockchain technology, the data can become anonymous and even more guarded. 

Human error

Continuous health monitoring’s main lifeline is automation and software. Key algorithms, and machine learning tech, along with AI, allow data to be correlated at a much faster and more precise level. Much more efficient than what any human could do.

It can compare data at lightning speed with massive data pools, and even current regional trends. This not only optimizes diagnostic specs’ but makes healthcare far more dynamic and error-free.

The Prospects of Continuous Health Monitoring

Continuous health monitoring is a game-changer and one that thanks to the likes of Google, Amazon, Bellabeat, Fitbit, Samsung, and dozens of other companies is just getting started. As a health provider, you simply can’t afford to find yourself behind the curve of this trend, and your competitive spirit demands that you embrace the change.