Study: Remote Monitor Doubles Survival Rate
May 9th, 2014
St. Jude Medical released some impressive news at the Heart Rhythm Society meeting that patient adherence to the St. Jude Medical Merlin™ Remote Monitoring System saw a (greater than) 2 times the probability of survival than patients without the remote monitoring system. This study was conducted with nearly 260,000 patients with pacemakers or defibrillators demonstrated a significant reduction in mortality.
The study measured as weekly transmission of patient data from the Merlin@Home System to the Merlin.net(TM) Patient Care Network at least 75 percent of the time — overall had a 58 percent reduced likelihood of mortality than patients not using remote monitoring and a 35 percent reduced likelihood of mortality than patients with low remote monitoring. Though there was geographic variability, socioeconomic factors were not associated with remote monitoring use. The study clearly demonstrated that regardless of device (pacemaker or defibrillator) the results were significantly better in terms of survival among those with remote monitoring.
The Merlin Patient Care System gathers and stores data from the implant procedure, in-clinic follow-up visits and from remote device transmissions sent from a patient’s home. Remote transmissions are sent via the Merlin@home(TM) Transmitter, a system that allows patient data from an implanted cardiac device to be wirelessly downloaded and securely transmitted for clinician review. Patients using a Merlin@home transmitter are able to transmit data via the internet connection, cell or phone line. This technology significantly improves patient compliance by reducing trips to the medical clinic for follow up.
