One of the first patients to be enrolled in the new COVID-19 Remote Monitoring Program at the Brook Army Medical Center (BAMC) https://bamc.tricare.mil located in San Diego, was Kathlyn Chassey, former lung transplant recipient.
She was shocked when she was diagnosed with a mild case of COVID-19. As a result, she was one of the first BAMC patients to be enrolled in the new COVID-19 Remote Monitoring Program. The program a joint effort of the Virtual Medical Center and BAMC, equips COVID-19 patients needing additional monitoring with a home healthcare kit plus 24/7 oversight from registered nurses to ensure a higher level of post-hospital care.
Through the use of the home kit and self-assessments, healthcare professionals are able to provide continuous monitoring of a patient’s temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, and oxygen saturation with intermittent monitoring of blood pressure and spirometry. The system also enables secure video consultations.
The process for home monitoring starts in the hospital inpatient unit or ED prior to discharge and in consultation with providers at each Military Treatment Facilities (MTF). If the patient qualifies for enrollment, they are equipped with the FDA-approved home monitoring kit and detailed verbal and printed instructions.
The kit contains a tablet, a network hub that operates independently of Wi-Fi and an arm band containing a coin-sized monitor. The system also pairs with a blood pressure cuff, a temperature patch, and a spirometer. Patients fill out customized questionnaires daily to report on how they are feeling. The system enables continuous bio-physiologic and symptom-based monitoring.
A team of teleworking nurses located in the San Antonio area, are able to monitor patients across eight participating MTFs. Additionally, each site has on-call medical staff in case of an alert or patient concern.
Each tablet has a button for assistance that initiates nurse engagement and if needed, a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability-compliant connection for a face-to-face video evaluation with a nurse or on-call physician. The kits were disbursed in participating hospitals and 13 patients were enrolled in the first week, saving approximately fifteen bed days .