Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 13, 2025
Mechanical Ventilation Boot Camp Curriculum
Published on: March 12, 2018
A Remote Patient Management Care Model for Pediatric Home Care Ventilator Patients Conserves Resources: A Quality
Insights
A remote patient management (RPM) program for home care respiratory therapy reduced home visits by over 38%, conserving resources and improving patient care. This innovative approach exceeded its 20% reduction goal.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Respiratory Therapy
- Telehealth
Background:
- Home care respiratory therapy faces increasing patient acuity and resource demands.
- Tracheostomy and ventilator-dependent patients require complex management.
- Remote patient management (RPM) was implemented to optimize resource allocation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of an RPM program on home visit frequency in respiratory therapy.
- To determine if remote monitoring could maintain high-quality patient care while reducing resource utilization.
- To achieve a 20% reduction in home visits.
Main Methods:
- Respiratory therapists (RTs) biweekly reviewed patient records and equipment data.
- Remote assessments included electronic health record review and patient contact.
- In-person home visits were conducted at least quarterly, with video contacts as an option.
Main Results:
- Home visits decreased by 38.7% compared to the previous year and 59.6% from pre-COVID-19 baseline.
- A 21.01% reduction in on-call volume for ventilator issues was observed.
- The program demonstrated time/mileage savings, improved team communication, and enhanced RT quality of life.
Conclusions:
- The RPM program successfully integrated innovative technology into an existing care model.
- The initiative achieved significant resource conservation and financial savings.
- The program enhanced patient and staff satisfaction, exceeding its primary goal.
Background:
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Home Care respiratory therapy patient population becomes more acute and resource-intense each year. The organization's trach/vent patients have numerous clinical and equipment needs requiring complex home respiratory management. To conserve respiratory therapy resources, a remote patient management (RPM) program was integrated into the current respiratory services care model by introducing innovative technology to monitor patient data remotely. The authors expected this to reduce the number of home visits defined in the established program while maintaining safe, high-quality care. The goal was a reduction of 20%.
Methods:
Biweekly, respiratory therapists (RTs) reviewed electronic health records and equipment downloads for specific patients and contacted them to assess their clinical status. RTs documented findings, planned interventions, communicated with interdisciplinary teams, and determined follow-up. Home and video contacts remained options for concerns. At minimum, RTs assessed patients in homes every three months. Chart reviews and safety rounds supported quality assessment.
Results:
Results revealed a 38.7% reduction in home visits compared to the prior year and 59.6% reduction in home visits from pre-COVID-19 baseline data, with several instances of special cause variation observed on statistical process control analysis (p < 0.05). The authors found a 21.01% reduction in on-call volume for ventilator-related issues (p = 0.2) and a 5.8% increase in patient's status changing to lower acuity (p = 0.2); neither was statistically significant due to low sample size. Results showed time and mileage savings, improved communication with interdisciplinary teams and families, improved RT quality of life, active ventilator weaning for relevant patients, and potential prevention of hospital admissions.
Conclusion:
The program delivered innovation to an established care model, providing resource conservation, financial savings, and patient and staff satisfaction, and exceeded its goal.
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