How Much Do Clinical Remote Monitoring Systems Cost?

Caitlin Mayer

The cost of a remote patient monitoring system can vary greatly because the capabilities and data fidelity can vary greatly. In considering cost and choice of remote patient monitoring system, you should research the following questions:

What information can I access remotely through this system?
What devices can this system connect to?
How simple is this system to use and integrate into my hospital’s workflow?
How sophisticated is this system’s alarm management and annunciation capabilities?
Does this system simply display data remotely or does it offer analytics and reports?

Related: Alarm management doesn’t have to be a burden. Find out how. Download the infographic.

How Much Can We Expect to Pay for Subscriptions and Maintenance Fees?

Most remote patient monitoring systems are designed to be flexible solutions. That means you have many choices in capabilities. And the initial cost can vary greatly depending on how the remote patient monitoring system is configured to specifically meet your needs.

Because the most sophisticated remote patient monitoring systems are software-based, you’ll pay for subscriptions and maintenance fees in addition to the initial cost to install and implement the platform.

For simplicity, let’s assume you need to purchase 50 connected devices. You can expect ongoing licenses and maintenance fees to be between $7,000 and $161,000 per year, depending whether your solution is accessible from any web-based device or if it can only be accessed from a dedicated server. For subscription-based systems, invoices are typically issued at the beginning of each month of service. This lets you:

Pay for what you use
Customize your solution to meet your needs
Have the system grow as your needs evolve

Related: Early warning scores can alert you to the first signs of patient deterioration — so you can intervene faster. Learn more. Download the clinical evidence guide.

Installation and Implementation

The foundation of remote patient monitoring systems — like the Vital Sync™ monitoring and clinical decision support solution — is the software. All customers have the software base regardless of the specific configuration. Your initial cost for software and implementation varies based on the size of the deployment. You can select how many and which beds in your facility will communicate with the remote patient monitoring platform. The more beds connected and communicating with the system, the higher the initial implementation cost.

Again, for 50 connected devices, installation and software implementation can range from $85,000 to more than $192,000. It’s important to note that wi-fi devices are not usually included in the installation fee. This lets you purchase only the number of wi-fi devices you need for your system.

Related: Clinical decision making. Uncomplicated. With Vital Sync™ monitoring and clinical decision support solution. Watch the Video.

Can We Connect Additional Devices? What Does That Cost?

You can select specific devices to connect and access through a remote patient monitoring solution. As you add connected devices, you’ll incur additional monthly costs.

In addition to connected bedside devices, you can also select how you want to receive and view information — and on what devices. This can include pagers, phones, and tablets.

Are There Any Add-on Costs Like Apps?

The Vital Sync™ platform also offers clinical decision support (CDS) apps to bring more value and meaning to data the system collects from connected devices. The cost for a CDS app is handled similarly to subscriptions. Cost is based on the number of connected beds utilizing the CDS app.

Price of a Remote Patient Monitoring System Over 10 Years

Another way to consider the cost of a remote patient monitoring system is cost per hospital bed. From this perspective, the cost of ownership for remote patient monitoring is approximately $16,000 per bed over 10 years.

TOPIC: Vital Sync™, Medical-Surgical