Remote monitoring (RM) of health and environment is a type of telemedicine technologies (TMT) which allows to track selected health and environment indicators, to store this data digitally, to transfer data to physician or other medical staff for an assessment of health condition in order to make a clinical decision.
RM technologies are the new stage of TMT development and, as any other technology, it has positive and negative sides, passes several stages in its development, and finds its indications and contraindications. In this article, we have concentrated on clinical aspects of RM. Many technical and organizational matters remain behind the scenes and require another discussion.
Knowledges about RM will expand and elaborate with the development and formation of this sphere.
On the first stages we can identify RM as a separate technology. But, most likely, eventually this technology will be divided on separated clinical areas, detailed, and implanted in routine clinical practice as its essential part and, thus, with time RM won’t be identified as separate technology. The same evolution was made by blood glucose measurement: from special laboratory test it has become a part of clinical practice for management patients with insulin therapy.
On the stage of formation, focus on special status of this technology is a good tool for stimulating and developing RM as a special sphere. The pilot project from Russian Ministry of Health «Personal medical helper» is an example of it.
