Medtronic has announced FDA approval and U.S. commercial availability of its free MyCareLink Smart Monitor. The smart mobile application in combination with the prescribed handheld device reader will allow real-time data transmission between physicians and patients using a Medtronic pacemaker.
As Darrell Johnson, vice president and general manager of the Connected Care business in the Cardiac and Vascular Group at Medtronic, expressed in an interview, this technology address an issue for patients that is often overlooked.
Not only will it make care more efficient and timely, it will alleviate the stress or anxiety some patients experience when something device related just doesn’t feel right. A patient’s doctor will be able to assure them at the time of discomfort that the device is still working properly or encourage them to be examined in person.
“Remote monitoring of pacemakers and other cardiac devices is now the standard of care, as studies have established how it benefits patients – including faster diagnoses and increased survival – as well as how it helps physicians manage their pacemaker patients through increased efficiency and convenience,” George Crossley, III, M.D., associate professor of medicine and electrophysiologist at Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institution in Nashville, Tennessee, said in a Medtronic statement. “Because the MyCareLink Smart Monitor is integrated into existing mobile platforms like smartphones and tablets, it is easy for patients to transmit data from their pacemakers to their doctors via the technology that they are using every day. This innovation will serve as the foundation for future advances using smart technology to support cardiac patients.”
As far as Medtronic’s approach to this type of technology moving forward, Johnson said the company is continuing to focus on providing data directly to patients. Part of that strategy includes making it easy and convenient, which includes providing information via the device they already use regularly – the smartphone.
There are two key reasons the MyCareLink Smart Monitor is a valuable tool for patients:
“Patients that are engaged with their disease, and engaged more fully, they have better outcomes,” Johnson said. “This is really a combination of giving patients the data to help them live on a daily basis with their cardiovascular disease as well as connect them to a healthcare system to prevent costly ER visits and hospital admissions.”
