THURSDAY, June 18, 2026 (NewsDay News) — Remote monitoring does not increase the time older patients spend at home, according to a study published online June 11, 2026. JAMA Open Network which coincides with the annual Critical Care Review meeting held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 10 to 12 June.
Sachin Yende, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh and colleagues examined the effectiveness of intermittent monitoring in reducing readmissions among older postoperative patients with sepsis or lower respiratory tract infection at 19 hospitals. Four remote monitoring strategies combining the intensity of the set of questions (low vs. high) and clinical response groups (standard and enhanced) were compared with usual care (399 patients were randomly assigned to usual care; 204 to remote patient monitoring (RPM) with low standard response; 129 to standard RPM-high; 383 improved response to RPM;-1).
The researchers found that the median days at home after discharge were similar across all study arms (90 for all groups); for all comparisons, the probability of preference was less than 55 percent. At least one reaction occurred in 37.8 percent of patients in the usual care arm, compared with 39.7, 44.2, 37.3, and 36.3 percent in the low-RPM response arms, the high-standard response arm, the low-RPM response arm, and the complete RPM response arm. The standard and enhanced response arms had fewer home days compared with usual care among patients 65 years of age and older (pooled odds ratio, 0.56 and 0.67).
“Although the trial did not tell us that one remote monitoring approach is superior, it provided valuable information to better use our resources and tailor future programs and technologies to better suit patient preferences,” co-author Christine Mayes, also of the University of Pittsburgh, said in a statement.
Several authors have disclosed their affiliation with Berry Consultants, a consulting firm specializing in adaptive Bayesian clinical trials.
