Florida-based WithMyDoc is using Telit connectivity for its remote patient monitoring (RPM) telehealth platform.

This turnkey offering lets physicians remotely monitor vital signs including weight, blood glucose, temperature, ECG, blood oxygen saturation, medication management and blood pressure, all from the patients’ homes.

Short for Web-based Intelligence Transforming Healthcare, WithMyDoc is overcoming a barrier to wider telehealth adoption, that of an internet service that is too slow, too expensive or simply unavailable, such as in rural areas. Roughly a quarter of adults in the USA don’t have broadband at home, with the number increasing to 40 per cent for people 65 and older. That means many of the people who would benefit the most from telehealth – senior citizens – can’t access it.

The RPM platform includes RPM@Home, a kit with devices that patients use at home to track vital signs. It also includes a tablet with an embedded cellular modem to connect the devices to the internet. The patient or caregiver simply turns on the tablet, which then automatically finds the right mobile network, establishes a connection and enables the syncing of patient data from their devices. RPM@Home can also receive data from most commercially available Bluetooth-enabled health and fitness wearables, such as smart watches.

“Early on, we realised that, even in today’s connected world, a large portion of the patient population we serve does not have access to quality bandwidth,” said Richard Rodriguez, CEO of WithMyDoc. “Telit has allowed us to remain focused on our mission and expand acute homecare in rural areas of the community.”

RPM@Home uses cellular to upload patient data securely to a physician. The cellular data plan and SIM are provided by Telit, freeing WithMyDoc from the time and expense of comparing and choosing mobile operator plans and provisioning devices.

Compared with wifi, a cellular connection is less vulnerable to hackers. That helps RPM@Home maintain the high level of security required by Hipaa when dealing with patient level data. It also helps address the data security and privacy concerns that a third of physicians say are a barrier to adoption.

Telit’s connectivity include Optimus, which analyses WithMyDoc’s data usage. It then assigns each SIM with the data plan that provides the right amount of bandwidth and the most cost-effective rate. That avoids bill shock and frees WithMyDoc from the overhead expense of managing rate plans.

WithMyDoc also uses Telit’s IoT portal – DeviceWise Cloud –whose intuitive dashboards, charts, reports and other visual elements make it easy to manage each RPM@Home unit. The portal provides tools for quickly diagnosing and resolving issues, which is key for patients and physicians to have reliable connectivity. Troubleshooting is done entirely over the air, so the RPM@Home unit doesn’t have to be brought in for service.

“WithMyDoc is leveraging cellular to knock down one of the biggest barriers to ubiquitous telehealth adoption: lack of internet access due to cost or unavailability,” said Scott Ellis, vice president at Telit. “Telit connectivity makes it fast, easy and cost-effective for WithMyDoc to provision, manage and troubleshoot its innovative RPM@Home devices.”

Telit has a portfolio of wireless connectivity modules, software platforms and global IoT connectivity services, empowering hundreds of millions of connected things, and used by thousands of direct and indirect customers, globally.

Based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, WithMyDoc offers an RPM kit using a web-based intelligence platform to monitor patients and transmit real-time biometric data to healthcare providers to support both chronic disease management and telehealth visits.