Telemedicine adoption skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many patients and clinicians found virtual visits to be an acceptable way to manage their healthcare. Telemedicine programs for prenatal care also gained steam during the pandemic and hold promise for improving access to care for many pregnant patients. Remote monitoring is one key to the success of these programs, and new technology that allows patients to perform an ultrasound at home may further improve adoption of prenatal telemedicine.
Pulsenmore is a remote ultrasound system that allows patients to perform fetal sonographic assessment at home and share the images with their doctor. In the United States, maternity wards continue to close and patients face a lack of specialists in many areas. Wards in countries like the United Kingdom, British Columbia, and Australia face similar challenges. Remote monitoring holds promise for improving access to essential healthcare.
The Need for Prenatal Remote Monitoring
Health tech, particularly in wearables and remote monitoring, is a growing industry and one that's finding satisfaction among patients and physicians. And pregnant patients are no exception. A telemedicine prenatal program implemented in New York found that patients and clinicians were highly satisfied with the program and many wanted to see telemedicine as an option for future visits.
Pregnant patients of average risk can have upwards of 14 in-person visits during their pregnancy, according to KFF. That's time off work, travel time, accommodations for young children at home, and other considerations that can pose a burden on patients. However, many of these visits can easily be conducted virtually. A growing number of provider organizations have begun remote prenatal monitoring programs, according to KFF. These programs have been successful at monitoring patients and have been well received by patients and clinicians.
A growing number of patients are waiting until age 35 or later to have children, according to research in JAMA Health Forum. This patient group tends to have more intensive care, but the time and travel associated with those schedules can be burdensome and make it difficult for patients to comply with their care.
Remote monitoring programs often use at-home devices for blood pressure, blood glucose levels, weight, and fetal heartbeat. Adding in remote ultrasound technology would allow for even more fetal monitoring and peace of mind for the patient, partner, and care team.
Benefits of Remote Ultrasound
Enabling patients to perform ultrasound at home, as perscribed and in consultation with a clinician, could lead to fewer unscheduled visits to the clinic or emergency room, enhance patient access to care, and detect warning signs of a problem early. So how does it work?
The Pulsenmore remote ultrasound system uses an app to guide patients through performing a simple self-scan. Each scan is transmitted to the clinician for review and interpretation. The scans can also be saved to the patient's electronic medical record. Clinicians have the option of conducting a real-time virtual visit to guide and review the ultrasound scan or of reviewing the scan asynchronously.
Clinicians can make adjustments to the scan settings remotely. The five-step self-scan was developed with input from OB/GYNs. It looks at three parameters:
- Was the fetal heartbeat observed?
- Was fetal movement observed?
- Is there sufficient amniotic fluid?
In a validation study, patients were able to successfully obtain images for the key parameters. That led to a large-scale collaboration with Israel's largest HMO, including tens of thousands of home ultrasound scans. More than 98% of self-scans allowed for interpretation of the three key parameters.
Remote ultrasound could be incorporated in a telemedicine program, particularly for patients with high-risk pregnancies and those who live far from their maternal care center. An Australian study published in Applied Sciences found that teleultrasound improved access to care for patients in rural, under-resourced areas and, for many patients, reduced their need to travel to a clinic for extra exams.
Adding fetal monitoring with remote ultrasound to a telemedicine prenatal care program can provide more information for the clinician and improved care overall for patients. It holds the potential to improve fetal monitoring and allow patients to keep up with their care in areas with limited access. Virtual visits may also save clinician time with improved workflows and fewer delays or unscheduled visits in the office.
Pulsenmore furthers the adoption of remote medical care and is one way to close the gap for patients who face increasing challenges when accessing prenatal care.
