Remote patient monitoring (RPM) lets care teams follow a patient’s health between visits using connected devices at home. A remote patient monitoring case study shows what happens when a reading changes and a clinician must act. Trials report averages. Case reports show the decisions behind them.
This article walks through two published cases. The first comes from a general surgery program at Stony Brook University Hospital in New York. The second comes from the Fontan Clinic at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. There, clinicians used an implanted pressure sensor to follow children with single ventricle heart disease. It also covers what larger studies show and the lessons that carry over to everyday RPM programs.
Looking for additional more Tenovi customer case studies? You can read our Case Study Blog Series.
Remote Patient Monitoring Case Study 1: Catching a Postoperative Liver Abscess
Stony Brook University Hospital started a remote patient monitoring program for general surgery patients in 2020. The program focused on post-surgical home care in the first two weeks after discharge. Between January and October 2021, patients having appendectomies, gallbladder removals, and hernia repairs were invited to join. Sixty-six patients enrolled.
Each patient went home with a kit that held a blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, weight scale, and tablet. Patients recorded their vital signs at least once a day for up to two weeks. A monitoring team at VitalCare, the program’s device partner, reviewed the readings daily. Any abnormal result went straight to the surgical team, according to the published case report.
Data on Day 12
A 65-year-old man had an interval laparoscopic appendectomy after an earlier perforated appendicitis. Twelve days after surgery, his dashboard showed tachycardia, a heart rate faster than normal. The monitoring team called him at home. He described heavy sweating, diarrhea, and a three-pound weight loss in a single day.
The team contacted his surgeon that same day. The surgeon sent him directly to the emergency department.
Diagnosis and Treatment
He arrived severely ill, with dry mucous membranes and a fever. He also had right lower quadrant pain that spread to his right shoulder. His liver enzymes were elevated. His white blood cell count was more than double the upper limit of normal. A CT scan found an 11-centimeter lesion in the right lobe of his liver. The diagnosis was a pyogenic liver abscess.
He received IV antibiotics, fluids, and pain control. An ultrasound-guided drain removed nearly 300 mL of infected fluid over several days. After 10 days in the hospital, he went home with a PICC line for two more weeks of IV antibiotics.
Pyogenic liver abscesses are rare after surgery, and they can be life-threatening when diagnosis is delayed. The study authors describe the RPM program as part of a life-saving intervention. A faster heart rate and a phone call about weight loss started the chain that got him to the hospital.
The timing matters too. This complication appeared on day 12, near the end of the two-week monitoring window. Daily readings kept the care team in contact with him during that window.
Remote Patient Monitoring Case Study 2: CardioMEMS in Pediatric Fontan Patients
The second remote patient monitoring case study comes from pediatric cardiology. Children born with single ventricle heart disease often have a series of surgeries that ends with the Fontan procedure. After a Fontan, blood returning from the body flows to the lungs without a pumping chamber to push it.
These patients need lifelong follow-up. Elevated pulmonary artery pressure can lead to Fontan-associated liver disease and protein-losing enteropathy, or PLE. PLE causes the gut to leak protein and can lead to fluid buildup and swelling.
Clinicians usually measure Fontan pressures during cardiac catheterization. Children typically need general anesthesia for the procedure. The cath lab captures one moment, often with the patient sedated. Those numbers may not match pressure during normal daily activity.
The Phoenix Children’s Case Series
In September 2021, the Fontan Clinic at Phoenix Children’s Hospital began implanting the CardioMEMS sensor in selected pediatric Fontan patients. The sensor sits in a branch of the pulmonary artery and measures pressure. It has been used widely in adults with heart failure. Its safety in children had not been established.
Eight patients ages 9 to 18 received the sensor between September 2021 and April 2023. Caregivers learned how to take readings at home. There were no procedural complications, device migrations, or clots. The results appeared in the European Heart Journal: Case Reports. It was the first published case series of CardioMEMS in pediatric Fontan patients.
The paper describes two of those patients in detail.
A 12-Year-Old Living at High Elevation
The first was a 12-year-old girl who had her Fontan surgery at age 3. Her family later moved to an elevation of about 2,100 meters, close to 6,900 feet. Over time she developed fatigue, dizziness, and leg swelling. A liver biopsy later showed severe Fontan-associated liver disease.
Her catheterization pressures looked reassuring, at about 12 to 13 mmHg. At home, the sensor told a different story. Her readings ran about 18 to 20 mmHg. The hospital sits at roughly 300 meters, far below where she lives.
With home data in hand, her team started a pulmonary vasodilator and oxygen. Her pressure fell to about 12 mmHg, and her symptoms improved. Her care team also used the sensor to track how her pressure changed during exercise and recovery.
A 16-Year-Old with Protein-Losing Enteropathy
The second was a 16-year-old boy born with a severe form of Ebstein’s anomaly. He had a Fontan procedure at age 3. About 12 years later, he developed abdominal fluid buildup and leg swelling and was diagnosed with PLE. Medical therapy did not stop the episodes from returning.
His catheterization pressure was low again, around 10 mmHg. His team suspected that number underestimated his true pressure. During the same procedure, they created a small opening in the Fontan circuit, called a fenestration, and implanted the sensor.
On his third day in the hospital, the sensor showed his pressure rising to about 18 to 20 mmHg. Imaging confirmed the fenestration had closed on its own. After further medication changes, his PLE improved and his pressure settled near 13 to 14 mmHg.
A few weeks after discharge, remote readings showed his pressure climbing again. His team diagnosed and treated a PLE recurrence. The authors note that remote monitoring caught the recurrence before he noticed symptoms. At the time of publication, he was being evaluated by the heart transplant team.
What Remote Patient Monitoring Trials Show
Case reports show what remote patient monitoring can do for one person. Larger trials show how often results repeat. Two studies add useful context to the cases above.
After Surgery: The PVC-RAM-1 Trial
The PVC-RAM-1 trial was published in The BMJ in 2021. It enrolled 905 adults discharged after non-elective surgery at eight Canadian hospitals. Half received a tablet and devices that measured blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate, oxygen saturation, temperature, and weight. They also had regular virtual nurse visits for 30 days.
The trial’s main outcome, days alive and at home, did not differ between groups. Other results did. Medication errors were caught in 29.7% of the monitored group, compared with 5.5% in standard care. Fewer monitored patients reported pain at 7, 15, and 30 days.
One finding stands out. A follow-up analysis looked at how often nurses escalated care to a physician. Hospitals that escalated most often saw fewer emergency visits and less acute hospital care. The data alone did not drive those results. The response to the data did.
Heart Failure: The MONITOR-HF Trial
In adults with heart failure, pulmonary artery pressure sensors have stronger evidence. The MONITOR-HF trial, published in The Lancet in 2023, enrolled 348 patients across 25 centers in the Netherlands. Patients managed with the CardioMEMS sensor reported better quality of life. They also had 44% fewer heart failure hospitalizations than patients on standard care.
Pediatric use is much earlier. The Phoenix series included eight patients, and the authors call for longer studies. The adult evidence helps explain why clinicians tried it in children whose pressures were hard to measure otherwise.
5 Remote Patient Monitoring Case Study Lessons for Care Teams
Each remote patient monitoring case study above points to habits that strong programs share. These five apply well beyond surgery and pediatric cardiology.
1) Daily Readings Keep Patients Connected to Their Care Team
Stony Brook patients measured their vital signs once a day for two weeks. The abscess showed up on day 12. A daily schedule gave the care team a chance to see the change on the day it was recorded.
2) Every Alert Needs a Clear Owner
At Stony Brook, one team reviewed the readings, called the patient, and called the surgeon. PVC-RAM-1 found a similar pattern across hundreds of patients. Sites that escalated more often saw fewer emergency visits.
3) Home Data Adds Context the Clinic Cannot Capture
The 12-year-old’s pressure under anesthesia, at low elevation, looked normal. Her pressure at home did not. Remote readings showed her care team what her circulation did during ordinary life.
4) Trends Can Reveal Problems Early
The 16-year-old’s rising pressure flagged a PLE recurrence before he felt any change. Watching the trend, not a single number, gave his team that head start.
5) Simple Setup Supports Daily Use
Both programs depended on patients or caregivers taking readings at home. The Stony Brook authors credit direct patient training with helping people who were less comfortable with technology. Cellular-connected devices remove another step, since they send readings with no app, pairing, or Wi-Fi.
Remote Patient Monitoring Case Study FAQs
Care teams reviewing a remote patient monitoring case study often ask the same questions. The answers below cover how each program worked, which devices were used, and what the larger evidence shows.
1) What is a remote patient monitoring case study?
A remote patient monitoring case study is a published report on how RPM affected one patient or a small group. It describes the readings, the clinical response, and the outcome. A case study shows how a program works in practice. Larger trials measure how often those results repeat.
2) How did remote patient monitoring help the Stony Brook surgery patient?
Daily home readings showed a rapid heart rate 12 days after his appendectomy. The monitoring team called him, learned about sweating and sudden weight loss, and alerted his surgeon. He went to the emergency department, where doctors found and drained a liver abscess.
3) What is the CardioMEMS sensor?
CardioMEMS is a small implanted sensor that measures pulmonary artery pressure. Patients take readings at home, and the data goes to their care team. It is most often used for adults with heart failure.
4) Can children use remote patient monitoring?
Yes. In the Phoenix Children’s case series, eight patients ages 9 to 18 received CardioMEMS sensors with no procedural complications. Caregivers took the readings at home. The authors note that larger, longer studies are still needed.
5) What devices did the Stony Brook program use?
Each patient received a blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, weight scale, and tablet. Patients recorded their vital signs at least once a day for up to two weeks after surgery.
6) Does remote patient monitoring after surgery reduce hospital visits?
The evidence is promising but mixed. In the PVC-RAM-1 trial, remote monitoring with virtual nursing did not change days alive at home. It did improve detection of medication errors and reduce pain. Hospitals that escalated care more often saw fewer emergency visits.
Understanding the Remote Patient Monitoring Case Study
Each remote patient monitoring case study in this article follows a different kind of patient. One was a 65-year-old man recovering from an appendectomy. The other was a teenager living with Fontan circulation. In both, home data reached a clinician who acted on it quickly. The surgery patient got treatment for a life-threatening abscess. The teenager’s team caught a returning complication before he felt it. Larger trials point the same way, with the best results where reliable readings meet a care team ready to respond. For a wider view of how programs are built, see Tenovi’s complete RPM guide.
Tenovi provides cellular-connected remote patient monitoring infrastructure. Our customers include RPM companies, health systems, telehealth platforms, chronic care management companies, payers, and pharmacies. More than 60 devices send readings with no apps, no syncing, and no Wi-Fi. Tenovi handles fulfillment, provisioning, and support, so care teams can focus on patients. Contact us for a free demo and consultation to see how Tenovi can support your monitoring program.
