Remote Patient Monitoring in Home Dialysis Patients: Enhancing Care for Home Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis.

BACKGROUND

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients on hemodialysis need continuous care, which has a minimal effect on their quality of life (QoL), as they have enormous symptomatic burdens, such as deprivation of sleep and anxiety, in addition to other consequences affecting their QoL. Moreover, managing dialysis patients is burdensome and costly. Telemedicine has recently gained popularity for electronically transferring data between patients and clinics. This has enabled remote monitoring of patients and timely intervention. Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a noninvasive healthcare service designed to remotely manage patients' vital information and facilitate continuous data collection. The emergence of RPM has led to a transformative approach in the management of chronic conditions, particularly within the context of home dialysis for patients undergoing home hemodialysis (HHD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD).

METHODS

This narrative review summarizes the current literature on the use of RPM in home dialysis settings. Relevant publications addressing RPM applications in HHD and PD were reviewed, and evidence was synthesized, with a focus on current practices, clinical outcomes, key advantages, limitations, and future directions for research and implementation, underscoring the potential of RPM to enhance care delivery in home dialysis.

RESULTS

RPM enables continuous monitoring of patient health data, promoting early detection of clinical issues and timely intervention. Reported benefits include improved patient engagement, treatment adherence, QoL, mortality, and reduced rates of hemodialysis transfers and hospitalization. RPM also supports more efficient communication between patients and healthcare providers. However, several challenges to broader implementation persist, including technological limitations, concerns regarding data privacy and security, and variable acceptance and adoption among patients and healthcare professionals.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, RPM has the potential to enhance home dialysis care by improving clinical outcomes, patient engagement, and healthcare efficiency. Addressing technological, privacy, adoption, and regulatory challenges will be critical to its broader implementation and long-term success.