How AI is transforming chronic disease management: Remote monitoring for hypertension and diabetes

Today, the prevalence of chronic diseases is growing at a rapid rate globally. These conditions progress slowly, however, they can cause life-threatening complications and thus require ongoing management. Conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and obesity are some of the many chronic diseases that have posed health challenges on a global scale.

Unfortunately, chronic disease management is incredibly difficult. Lack of healthcare access and deficiencies in the traditional healthcare model makes it challenging to diagnose and intervene early, leading to poor health outcomes. Thus, there has been increasing demand for remote solutions in chronic disease management.

AI-powered remote health monitoring has the potential to revolutionize chronic disease management. And it’s not just the patient that benefits. Healthcare companies, insurers, and digital healthcare providers all have the opportunity to increase patient engagement, lower costs, and improve outcomes.

Challenges of managing chronic conditions

Chronic diseases are one of the greatest threats to our health and longevity. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that by 2050, chronic disease will account for as many as 86 percent of the yearly 90 million deaths. This represents an increase of 90 percent in absolute numbers from the year 2019 (1).

But why are these conditions becoming more and more prevalent? Well, it involves a combination of an aging population and lifestyle factors. In terms of aging, the number of individuals globally over the age of 60 years is expected to double between 2015 to 2050. As such, chronic disease will continue to be a growing threat (2).

When it comes to lifestyle and environmental factors, things like alcohol consumption, tobacco use, poor sanitation, unsafe drinking water, violence, and air pollution can all contribute to the uptick in chronic disease (1). Not to mention, the prevalence of obesity continues to rise at an alarming rate. Obesity is associated with several long-term health issues, including cardiovascular disease (e.g., hypertension), diabetes, cancer, osteoarthritis, kidney and liver disease, depression, and sleep apnea (3).

Self-management of chronic disease isn’t an option – it requires frequent and personalized care from a healthcare professional. However, many patients don’t seek medical attention at all because of barriers to healthcare access. Others that go to the doctor’s office may do so infrequently. Additionally, healthcare providers often rely heavily on in-office or self-reported patient data, not getting real-time insights on their patients. As such, disease can go undetected for many months or years before a diagnosis is received and providers can properly intervene.

Ultimately, traditional chronic disease management puts a high burden on the patients, healthcare systems, and insurers. These diseases, when left untreated or treated too late, can lead to further complications, resulting in poor quality of life and financial hardship.

What AI-powered remote health monitoring can do

So, how do we address these deficiencies in our current medical model? AI-powered remote health monitoring might just be the solution we’ve all been looking for. AI health monitoring allows you to gather key health metrics instantly and continuously, providing valuable insights to patients and providers. It overcomes traditional health barriers by offering:

• Continuous tracking of health metrics instead of episodic check-ups
• Objective and accurate health data that doesn’t rely on patient self-reporting
• Proactive interventions by providing alerts before conditions worsen, helping to prevent complications and increase medication adherence
• Remote convenience, eliminating the need for in-person medical visits
• You don’t need additional devices – just a smartphone or laptop

But what kind of data can we gather, and how does it all work? Well, AI vital sign monitoring functions by:

• Measuring key health indicators such as blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac workload, and stress index in real time.
• Utilizing AI- and camera-based technology. You can gather these insights and collect data using a smartphone, tablet, laptop. Therefore, you can limit the need for in-person visits. With Shen AI in particular, a face scan alone can collect multiple health metrics, providing insights into someone’s overall health and wellness.
• Integrating into existing digital health platforms, telemedicine solutions, and insurance wellness programs. Thus, AI remote monitoring can be used by practically any professional or business in the medical, health, or wellness industries.
• Supporting corporate wellness programs by enabling scalable, non-invasive health checks that can be used to monitor stress, cardiovascular health, and overall employee wellness.

The impact of AI remote monitoring

As you can imagine, the applications of AI remote monitoring are widespread. Not to mention, it has the potential to change the course of chronic disease on a global scale. As we mentioned, chronic disease management is notoriously difficult, and the impact of mismanagement is profound. Introducing remote healthcare access and data collection could improve health outcomes for patients and efficiency in the healthcare and insurer systems.

The benefits for healthcare professionals include:

• The ability to collect real-time patient insights, without the need for extra expensive devices
• Reduced hospital admissions and emergency visits
• Higher efficiency in chronic disease management programs, allowing for more frequent and effective care

For example, using AI-powered remote health monitoring has the potential to supplement diabetes management. This technology can collect health data key to understanding one’s risk for diabetes, such as through identifying patterns in someone’s heart rate, weight, sleep quality, and activity levels. Equipped with this real-time, continuous health information, providers can make more informed decisions and interventions when it comes to treating diabetes.

The benefits for insurers include:

• Reductions in claim costs by catching conditions early, instituting preventative interventions, and delaying or preventing disease altogether
• Personalized risk assessments

The benefits for employers and corporate wellness programs include:

• Potential incorporation of AI health monitoring as a part of workplace wellness initiatives
• An opportunity to promote the health and wellness of one’s employees
• Reductions in sick days and long-term disability claims, ultimately translating into increased productivity and efficiency

Wrap up

In summary, remote AI health monitoring has the potential to revolutionize chronic disease management. Patients, providers, insurers, and employers can all experience the benefits of real-time, continuous health insights collected with just a simple video scan. In doing so, we have the power to detect and diagnose disease early, make timely interventions, and live healthier and longer lives.

Considering the benefits of using remote AI health monitoring for managing chronic disease? Try out Shen AI’s health monitoring platform with a 1-minute face scan.

References:

(1) “Chronic diseases taking ‘immense and increasing toll on lives’, warns WHO“, UN News

(2) “Ageing and health” factsheet, WHO

(3) “The Medical Risks of Obesity“, Xavier Pi-Sunyer