PA Health System Expands Telehealth, RPM Collaboration

With the goal of enhancing healthcare delivery through telehealth and remote patient monitoring (RPM), Masimo and Temple University Health System (Temple Health) are expanding their collaboration to include several new technologies and devices. 

Masimo is a global medical technology company that provides various monitoring technologies, such as measurement devices, sensors, and patient monitors, as well as automation and connectivity solutions.

Made up of 979 beds, Temple Health is a $2.4 billion academic health system that aims to provide patients with access to quality care through Temple University Hospital and various specialty centers. Temple Health is affiliated with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

Recently, the two organizations expanded the collaboration to include new technologies. The organizations have partnered since 2008, when Temple Health deployed Masimo's pulse oximetry device.

The collaboration may now include several new tools, such as the Masimo W1 advanced health tracking watch, the Radius VSM tetherless, multimodal patient monitor, and other Masimo Hospital Automation solutions.

“Temple Health is committed to driving medical advances through clinical innovation, pioneering research and world-class education. Our commitment aligns with Masimo’s vision for achieving tomorrow’s outcomes and helping institutions like ours improve and automate the ways we monitor physiological status across more care areas than ever before, as well as extend high-quality care beyond the hospital and into the home,” said Joseph DiMartino, associate vice president of nursing at Temple University Hospital, in a press release. “We have collaborated with Masimo since 2008, starting with Masimo SET pulse oximetry, which has then expanded into other technology avenues that really help streamline clinical workflows and put our patients’ safety at the forefront.”

The collaboration will also extend to other areas. In addition to deploying technologies, therapies, and devices to bolster patient-centered care, the organizations aim to increase awareness of health equity through leveraging experience and their regional impact, investigate methods to reduce the use of outdated technology, encourage clinical and technology exchanges between leaders who aim to improve healthcare, and further research opportunities in inpatient, outpatient, and home-based settings.

The press release also noted that Masimo technologies will be tested before being implemented more broadly through the Temple Health “Collaboratory.” 

Recently, efforts surrounding telehealth implementation to improve healthcare outcomes have grown.

For example, in October 2022, Avera Health aimed to improve maternal care outcomes while enhancing rural healthcare access through telehealth and RPM. Avera received Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies Program funding from Health Resources and Services Administration. With this funding, the organization aims to increase access to obstetrics services and improve outcomes such as pre-term labor, low birth weight, and infant mortality.