BOSTON—Patients who had remote monitoring in their implantable electronic cardiac devices had lower all-cause hospitalization costs and recurrent hospitalizations compared with patients without remote monitoring capabilities, according to a large, retrospective, cohort study.

A comparative effectiveness study of more than 250,000 patients implanted with cardiac devices between 2008 and 2011 found that embedding remote monitoring technology led to improved survival.

It sounds contradictory, but more pacemaker monitoring could lead to longer battery life. An Italian retrospective analysis compared battery life between pacemakers with remote monitoring on vs. off and found that with remote monitoring on, patients went approximately 11 months longer between battery replacements. 

Remote monitoring of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and pacemakers shows marked improvement in patient outcomes, if only patients and providers would use it. 

eCardio Diagnostics, a leader in remote arrhythmia monitoring services, will highlight its expertise for integrating its services with customers' existing electronic medical records (EMR) systems at upcoming conferences.

Although current guidelines recommend remote patient monitoring (RPM) with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), a study published online Sept. 16 in Circulation found that RPM is vastly underutilized. Fewer than half of patients whose devices allow for RPM use it within six months of their implants.

The FDA has approved St. Jude’s next-generation Merlin.net Patient Care Network (PCN), a secure, Internet-based remote care system for patients with implanted medical devices.

Four experts share their opinions in a roundtable discussion on the clinical, legal and economic considerations of remote monitoring of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices with wireless capabilities.