Remotely monitoring a COVID-19 patient's pulse oximetry level could help pinpoint signs of condition deterioration, according to a new systematic review published in the Lancet. 

Researchers combed through 561 studies and narrowed down their scope of research to 13 papers based on set criteria. Authors of the Lancet paper conducted a systematic review of the studies and found that measuring a COVID-19 patient's pulse oximetry at home is safe and could help spot potential risks for health decline.

However, the research did not find that remote patient monitoring led to better outcomes than other types of health monitoring. 

"Our systematic review could not identify clear evidence for the effects of RPM with pulse oximetry on the health outcomes of patients. However, monitoring SpO2 at home was a safety net to enable identification of an early sign of deterioration: a decrease in SpO2.

"For instance, in one study, an incidental reading of low SpO2 without worsening of any other symptoms was the only reason that 50% of patients who were ultimately hospitalized returned to the emergency department," authors of the study noted. 

The 13 studies included a total of 2908 participants. The studies included in the review offered a 24/7 emergency phone line. Additionally, five of the studies provided phone and text reminders. Five studies also gave participants an app or portal to report their results. 

WHY IT MATTERS 

During the pandemic, there was an uptick in RPM usage. That trend may be here to stay. According to Insider Intelligence, the number of remote patient monitoring users is expected to reach 70.6 million by 2025. 

The systematic review found implementing remote pulse oximetry usage could help boost patient safety. 

"Our systematic review has shown that the use of pulse oximetry as a monitoring tool for patients at home with COVID-19 helped to triage patients on the basis of their SpO2 concentrations, detect the risk of deterioration and promote patient safety. The data were insufficient to assess the effect on other proxies of effectiveness (e.g. health outcomes) and dimensions of care quality compared with other care models."

THE LARGER TREND 

Remote patient-monitoring companies have raked in hundreds of millions of investor dollars. In February, remote patient-monitoring company Athelas scored $132 million, bringing its valuation to $1.5 billion. Just a month earlier, VitalConnect landed $39 million in Series E funding. 

In 2021, Cadence, an RPM platform focused on chronic conditions, raked in $100 million in Series B financing.