Florida Health System to Launch RPM Platform for Heart Failure, Hypertension

Baptist Health South Florida is partnering with Raziel Health to implement its remote patient monitoring (RPM) services and continuous care platform for cardiac care.

The 12-hospital system includes 4,000 physicians and over 100 outpatient centers, urgent care facilities, and physician practices across South Florida. Per the new partnership, the health system will deploy the platform to enable clinicians to remotely care for chronically ill patients in their homes, inpatients with complex conditions, and patients transitioning from the hospital to their homes.

The platform will initially be used to treat patients with heart failure and complex hypertension. Raziel Health offers home monitoring devices that enable care teams to track vitals and activity data. The platform integrates with several EHRs, including Epic and Cerner.

Patients can connect with their care teams using Raziel's smartphone app, which enables virtual visits and calls, and allows patients to take contextual surveys and engage in lifestyle and behavioral coaching.

The platform uses machine learning to analyze the data gathered, including survey results, to inform treatment plans and care interventions.

The health system plans to expand the RPM platform and services to additional types of cardiac care.

"Raziel is part of Baptist Health South Florida's long-term strategic vision to provide differentiated patient engagement and population health for the greater South Florida market," says Jonathan Fialkow, chief population health officer at Baptist Health South Florida and deputy director of the Miami Cardiovascular Institute, in the press release. "This innovative technology allows for care beyond the traditional clinical setting and identifies possible health issues for early intervention. We are partnering with Raziel for its unique integration with Cerner and track record of clinical excellence."

The partnership is the latest in a string of collaborations focused on RPM.

Last month, ScionHealth, a health system with 79 facilities, partnered with health technology company Cadence to provide RPM services to patients with chronic conditions like hypertension, heart failure, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Similarly, in May, Novant Health announced plans to team up with Health Recovery Solutions to launch a pilot RPM program directed toward bariatric patients, with plans to expand to other patient populations. The overall goal of the program is to limit hospital readmissions and improve outcomes.

These collaborations have grown since the COVID-19 pandemic hit as virtual care use skyrocketed. One study shows that the use of RPM services within the Medicare population jumped 555 percent between February 2020 and September 2021. The research also revealed that RPM was most commonly used to treat hypertension, followed by diabetes and sleep disorders.

But there is conflicting evidence regarding RPM's efficacy in cardiac care. Another study, published in May, found that RPM had no beneficial effect on reducing hospitalization and mortality levels among heart failure patients.