Remote Patient Monitoring Software: A Comprehensive Development Guide

The COVID-19 pandemic, which was wreaking global havoc for two years (the World Health Organization proclaimed its termination only in May 2023), has not only caused millions of deaths and brought the world to a standstill. It has also revolutionized our approaches to work, studying, shopping, having fun, and ushering in remote practices into our lives. The same is true of the healthcare industry, where clinicians have come to rely on various remote patient monitoring (RPM) gadgets and solutions. 

The huge demand for RPM systems has caused the corresponding market to spike steeply. Between 2022 and 2032, it is expected to increase more than 11.7 times, displaying a mind-blowing CAGR of 28.7%.

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In the USA alone, 71 million people utilize some remote patient monitoring platform, and 97% of them are satisfied with the experience. Evidently, healthcare startups, medical institutions, and device manufacturing companies can’t ignore this innovative trend and should offer their clientele the opportunity to enjoy real-time health monitoring. 

This article serves as a comprehensive manual on remote patient monitoring software development. We will clarify the essence of such products, describe their operations’ basic principles and best practices, and showcase their assets. You will have a concise list of essential features of RPM solutions and an SDLC roadmap. We will also review roadblocks you can encounter and consider the cost of building this type of healthcare software.

What is Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)?

As the name suggests, remote patient monitoring software refers to high-tech solutions leveraged by healthcare providers for medical data tracking when the care recipient is outside a facility. Depending on the condition an RPM solution is honed to keep an eye on, the conventional remote monitoring examples include: 

• Vital signs tracking. Control over blood pressure, temperature, glucose level, and oxygen saturation belongs to smartwatches, compact trackers, electric stethoscopes, and other wearable health devices.
• Cardiac monitoring. Pacemakers, implantable heart monitors, defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization systems can register low-amplitude signals the human heart produces.
• Pregnancy monitoring. To identify even minute abnormalities in real time, specialized gadgets powered by software for remote patient monitoring collect vital indices related to a mother’s and fetus’s condition.
• Depression monitoring. These patient monitoring use cases boil down to detecting and measuring a person’s heart rate, physical activity, blood pressure, and sleep patterns that can indicate mood changes and symptoms of depression. 

The efficient functioning of RPM systems is possible only if the device has EHR integration to enable its access to benchmark patient data for comparison and deviation detection. To save the precious time of healthcare workers, we have built a medical data management platform that streamlines the process of patient data exchange. It is an easy-to-learn system that simplifies all the back-and-forth of pre-treatment activities, exchanging and processing care recipient information.

Sometimes, remote patient monitoring platforms are confused with telehealth solutions (for instance, mobile health apps). While driven by the same foundational principle (providing remote medical services), these two products differ in their application focus. 

Telehealth technology is an umbrella notion that includes various software pieces that connect doctors and patients (mHealth solutions, video conferencing tools, eVisits, teletherapy, telepharmacy, and more). RPM systems are a centerpiece of the telehealth framework, which is focused on remote healthcare data collection via various wearable sensors and home-based equipment. Further data analysis allows for chronic disease monitoring, early intervention, and clinical decision support. 

Let’s discover the essence of RPM systems’ functioning.

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) Operation Dissected

Data interoperability in healthcare is literally a life-or-death issue. An RPM system’s architecture, which contains four components, is meant to ensure the synchronous flow of a patient’s health characteristics.

Sensors

It all starts with wearables and IoT devices that detect various health metrics they are programmed to register (weight, heart rate, pulse, sugar level, blood pressure, etc.). Being collected, the assembled data is properly calibrated. 

APIs

These are responsible for medical device connectivity by enabling data transmission from the sensors to the data storage (typically a cloud-based one) and then to the healthcare service provider’s dashboard. Data transfer is implemented via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or LTE adapter.

Storage

In it, the patient’s vital parameters are not only hoarded. Such platforms are equipped with AI-driven processing, analytics, and visualization tools that sift through incoming information in real-time to see if the patient’s condition is under threat and requires immediate intervention.  The analysis results are presented in an easy-to-comprehend format. Advanced remote patient monitoring software development can empower such tools with advisory capabilities when they suggest a diagnosis and create a prescription with a course of further actions mapped out. 

Provider’s application

If something is wrong, a notification is sent to the doctor’s or caregiver’s desktop, laptop, or smartphone, where a dedicated app is installed. Having all relevant information at their fingertips, the specialist determines what to do next, contacts their colleagues to make a joint decision, or calls emergency services. 

Zooming in on Remote Patient Monitoring Software Advantages

Remote patient monitoring software ushers in four kinds of benefits.

Clinical benefits

Thanks to the timely and easy access to critical information that an RPM system provides, doctors ensure early intervention, improved decision-making, and better clinical outcomes. Besides, as surveys claim, onboarding of remote patient monitoring software together with patient engagement tools allows clinics to reduce hospital readmission rates by 85%! How come? Most discharged patients return because of some slight symptoms (like high blood pressure or dizziness) that don’t require in-depth examination but can be controlled via RPM without visiting the hospital.

Operational benefits

Fewer appointments and physical visits to clinicians because of minor problems relieve the workload on hospital personnel, allowing them to find more time for important, urgent, or meaningful tasks. Moreover, optimizing workflows enabled by RPM solutions helps balance medical staff schedules and remote care management, reduce overtime, and prevent employee burnout. 

Financial benefits

RPM software is an ultimate cost-saver. Constant monitoring means fewer unnecessary procedures and tests, better reimbursement opportunities, lower emergency room costs, and more affordable treatment options. As the Journal of Cardiac Failure has discovered, healthcare providers can save up to $1,000 annually per patient – an impressive figure, isn’t it?

Patient-side benefits

These aren’t only about receiving timely assistance and care in case of an emergency. RPM devices help people (especially patients with chronic diseases and seniors) be more aware of their health and adopt a healthier lifestyle. Plus, they can remind them to take medication or do activities that prevent them from hospitalization.

As you can see, RPM systems are a win-win option for healthcare organizations, clinical staff, and patients, worth investing in. The first step to custom remote patient monitoring software development is determining the functionalities it should contain. 

Must-have Remote Patient Monitoring Software Features

A bespoke remote patient monitoring platform can be filled with any capabilities the customer needs. However, there are some bread-and-butter characteristics for all RPM solutions.

Device connectivity

It is the core feature on which remote patient monitoring software hinges. Wearables, smart sensors, IoT gizmos, accessories, and medical devices should be united into one system with the hospital’s digital infrastructure and patient engagement tools via a network of APIs. It enables uninterrupted data flow between endpoints and maintains a permanent rapport between physicians and patients. 

EHR/EMR integration

Another mission-critical link for an RPM solution is its integration with the facility’s electronic health/medical records. Thanks to this, health data and patients’ demographics from all devices come directly to the EHR storage and are updated there in real time. Leveraging a protected API ensures patient data security.

Real-time data visualization

It is hard to make sense of the multitude of numbers that come from RPM devices unless they are properly processed, arranged, and presented. Built-in analytics and visualization tools allow specialists to assess the situation quickly and provide valuable insights into the dynamics of the patient’s condition.

Patient portals and reminders

RPM solutions should cater not only to the interests of healthcare providers but also to medical services consumers. That is why a user-friendly portal is necessary. It allows patients to access and manage their personal health records and insurance information, schedule appointments, receive reminders about visits and medication taking, view prescriptions, get bills, and more, thus staying in control of their treatment. 

Alert/notification system

It enables doctors and nurses to learn about a patient’s state, assess the gravity of the situation quickly, and act immediately if urgent help is imperative. Such messages can take the form of push notifications, alarm alerts, or SMS texts, but patients’ data should not be included since this is one of HIPAA’s requirements.

Data encryption and compliance tools

Speaking of compliance in healthcare software. All products of this kind should adhere to universal (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) and industry-specific (HIPAA) regulations. To ensure this, an RPM should have stringent access control, leverage data encryption, undergo regular security audits, and take all other measures to provide the utmost sensitive data protection.

Now that you know what features to include, you can handle the peculiarities of RPM building.

How to Create an Effective RPM Solution: Five Essential Tips

When consulting customers on remote patient monitoring software development, we offer the following recommendations that enable them to obtain a first-class RPM solution.

Start with user needs and workflows

You can provide a comfortable user journey for healthcare providers and patients only if you understand the future system users and their actions while interacting with the solution. That is why, when developing a remote patient monitoring platform, you should have a clear vision of a user persona with their demographics, tech skill levels, needs, preferences, and pain points. 

Choose the right tech stack

Crafting high-profile remote patient monitoring software requires an adequate set of programming languages, frameworks, and tools. Usually, we use Python and Node.js for back-end creation, React, Angular, or Vue.js for front-end development, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or MQTT as IoT communication technologies, and AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure for data storage. If the customer desires stricter data control, we opt for MongoDB or PostgreSQL as on-premise databases.

Ensure HIPAA/GDPR Alignment

You can’t build secure medical software without ensuring its adherence to HIPAA, GDPR, and other regulatory standards protecting system users’ personal and financial data. The same applies to RPM solutions, which should support using the security-first approach.

Build an MVP first

You can never discover how potential users like your RPM product or what issues they experience while interacting with it unless you submit a basic version of it for trial usage by a pilot audience. To do that, you should create a Minimum Viable Product containing the RPM’s essential functionalities, let carefully selected users try it, and collect feedback to improve, fine-tune, or even radically overhaul your development scheme.

Emphasize scalability and support

Future-proofing is what makes a software product successful in the long run. Remember to envisage the RPM’s scalability, which enables it to grow with the increase of the customer base and the organization’s needs. Besides, ongoing support of the system is vital for providing its satisfactory performance as long as it functions. 

You should know the potential pitfalls while building a remote patient monitoring platform.

Challenges in RPM Software Development

What are the typical obstacles developers must overcome during the remote patient monitoring platform SDLC?

Regulatory compliance

You have read about its importance several times in the text above. Why is it such a big deal? Because people entrust their most sensitive personal and financial information to doctors and insurers, it eventually finds its way into EHR and other medical data banks. To protect this data, national and international authorities have introduced multiple laws that violate this law, resulting in fines and other punitive measures. You can avoid them by knowing the norms the solution should comply with inside out and keeping constant track of changes and updates across regulatory frameworks. 

Data integration with legacy systems

Many healthcare organizations still rely on obsolete on-premises solutions and infrastructure in their pipeline operations. These solutions may become incompatible with novel RPM systems equipped with disruptive technologies, preventing free data flow throughout the digital environment. To eliminate this problem, remote patient monitoring software development should be preceded by a comprehensive system audit and cloud migration of the information it contains, which also involves standardizing data formats.

Device interoperability

Smooth and prompt data exchange between devices is crucial for RPM solutions. It can be ensured by providing compatibility with all gadgets linked to the system and equipping software that powers them with robust and secure APIs.

Ensuring user-friendly design

When designing an RPM solution’s interface, you should consider that users of different backgrounds and ages will leverage it, have diverse (often low) tech skills, and sometimes have visual and manual dexterity impairments. Consequently, the UI and dashboards should be intuitive, consistent, uncluttered, and accessible to broad audiences. Their clear hierarchy and straightforward navigation should take minimal time and effort to master.

Data privacy and cybersecurity risks

Data protection is one of the chief priorities in healthcare software development. An RPM system presupposes the creation of a comprehensive security policy with clear guidelines concerning role-based access control, strong authentication protocols, data encryption at rest and in transit, and other measures honed for system breach and loss prevention. 

Alongside the above-mentioned RPM development challenges, organizations and individuals often have problems using this software properly. How can you mitigate those problems?

The Best Practices for Using Remote Patient Monitoring Software

The following remote patient monitoring best practices will help users maximize the efficiency of employing RPM systems.

Train staff and onboard patients effectively

Harnessing new technologies is always a tall order for people, even with excellent tech skills, to say nothing of senior and disadvantaged remote patient monitoring software users. To make the learning curve less steep, healthcare providers should institute training programs for their personnel and ensure maximum simplicity of RPM’s UI/UX. 24/7 support is also a great aid.

Customize alerts to avoid fatigue 

Alert fatigue caused by an overwhelming amount of received notifications may lead to missing critical notifications, delayed responses, reduced productivity, and even stress and burnout. To minimize such threats, you should customize alerts by categorizing them by priority, making them clear and concise, dialing down noise signals, consolidating redundant alerts, and implementing escalation guidelines. 

Monitor user feedback 

It is essential at the MVP stage and after launching the finished product. By gauging clinicians’ and patients’ satisfaction concerning their user experience and discovering their complaints, you can understand which aspects of the RPM’s functioning require improvement.

Ensure regular system updates and QA testing

No software is carved in stone, and RPM solutions are no exception. They need regular updates, security audits, patches, new integration implementation, periodic performance tests, and other maintenance measures to ensure seamless operation.

Use data for preventive strategies 

The best remote monitoring examples are always about prevention. The optimal treatment outcomes can be achieved when physicians and nurses use healthcare data to prevent adverse developments and conditions rather than react to acute patient states. 

Realizing the paramount importance of leveraging RPM systems, many organizations are still reluctant to onboard them, not knowing what budget it will require.

How Much Does Remote Patient Monitoring Software Development Cost?

The money you must allocate to build a custom RPM solution may vary from $50,000 to $400,000. What are the factors that influence remote patient monitoring software development cost?

• The solution’s complexity and scope (that is, the roster of features it includes)
• Design sophistication (the more exquisite the UI design is, the greater the price tag the solutions will have)
• Integration needs (each new system or device type linked to the RPM increases the final price) 
• Customization degree (tailoring the solution to specific workflows or branding requirements will cost you a pretty penny)
• MVP development (some customers choose to skip this phase to cut down on the overall expenditures)
• Security and regulatory compliance (ensuring high-level security measures and adherence to HIPAA, GDPR, and other regulations is quite costly)
• The tech stack developers use to create RPM (the employment of AI, ML, IoT, and other state-of-the-art technologies drives the cost considerably)
• The development team size (each expert added to the minimal team consisting of a back-end developer, a front-end engineer, a UI/UX designer, a QA specialist, and a project manager is a new expenditure item)
• The project deadline (the urgency of project completion requires the involvement of more developers and often extra overtime payments for their services)
• The vendor’s hourly rates are conditioned by their location (outsourcers from Western Europe or North America charge $150-200 per hour, whereas the services of South Asian companies will cost you from $20 to $40) 
• The engagement model (fixed price, time & material, our dedicated team)

Besides, when planning an RPM software development budget, you should consider long-term investment considerations (such as a cloud provider’s subscription fees, support and maintenance expenditures, etc.).

How Django Stars Can Help You Develop an RPM Solution

Choosing the right outsourcer determines half of the success in custom remote patient monitoring software development. You should opt for a seasoned IT company whose employees possess in-depth industry-specific expertise in developing software products for healthcare enterprises and who have multiple completed projects in this sector. 

Django Stars ticks both boxes. Our qualified developers wield a wide range of hands-on skills in building healthcare products, allowing them to craft remote patient monitoring software of any type and complexity. Our services include full-cycle product development, from the market analysis and discovery phase through MVP creation and solution launch to long-term support. We have the ISO 27001:2013 security certificate, which vindicates our adherence to secure software development practices and employment of a robust Information Security Management System (ISMS).

By choosing our company, you will surely obtain a reliable partner ready to meet you halfway in all project implementation aspects, not ready to compromise on quality and security, and who will deliver a high-end RPM solution within time and budget. Case study? Learn how we have helped our client to raise $295 million in investments. 

Conclusion

Remote patient monitoring software is a telehealth solution that allows clinicians to keep track of outpatients’ vital indices (blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, glucose level, etc.) in real time. The system consists of a wearable device linked to various third-party sources via a network of APIs, enabling the transmission of health data to the doctor’s dashboard. RPM solutions usher in numerous clinical, operational, and financial benefits for medical service providers and consumers when properly leveraged.

To obtain an efficient RPM product, you should establish its roster of features, address major software development challenges, leverage the best practices of its employment, and hire vetted professionals to implement the project.