The University of South Carolina is launching a remote patient monitoring program aimed at reducing the state’s high maternal mortality rate of 32.7 deaths per 100,000 births
The University of South Carolina is launching a remote patient monitoring program aimed to improve care management for new mothers and their children.
The university is partnering with digital health company Rimidi to launch the program through an affiliated multispecialty clinic. Funded by The Duke Endowment, the platform will help care providers monitor blood pressure for patients in underserved communities following a high-risk pregnancy.
“Our partnership with Rimidi aims to address a critical maternal health challenge in South Carolina – reducing complications from postpartum hypertension,” Nansi Boghossian, an Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina who is spearheading the RPM program, said in a press release. “Through this collaboration, we are committed to improving patient care and enhancing the health of mothers in underserved communities.”
[Also read: Stanford Medicine Children’s Opens Innovation Lab for Maternal Care.]
The program aims to tackle South Carolina’s high maternal mortality rate, which a recent report put at 32.7 maternal deaths per 100,000 births, by addressing key health concerns like preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and chronic hypertension. That’s a high rate in a country whose 2022 maternal mortality rate of 22.3 deaths per 100,000 live births is one of the worst of all developed nations.
Through the health system’s Epic EHR, care teams will focus on metrics like blood pressure ascertainment during the first six weeks postpartum, in-person postpartum visit attendance, hospital readmissions through 12 months postpartum, program acceptability, retention, satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness.
RPM platforms give care providers an opportunity to monitor patients after they leave the hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office. By using connected devices to gather data from patients at home, they can spot trends, adjust care management plans, and even intervene if a patient is showing signs of developing a serious health concern.
Eric Wicklund is the associate content manager and senior editor for Innovation at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
South Carolina has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the country.
The University of South Carolina is targeting that rate with a remote patient monitoring program, launched in a partnership with Rimidi, that will monitor new mothers after they leave the hospital.
The program aims to reduce adverse events and boost clinical outcomes by enabling care teams to monitor patients at home and intervene before a health concern turns serious.