Telemedcical monitoring of patients with invasive and noninvasive home mechanical ventilation

Noninvasive and invasive home mechanical ventilation are established, elaborate therapies that improve quality of life and will also prolong extension of life in many cases. A close cooperation between patients, nursing services, medical practitioners and the center for home mechanical ventilation is necessary for successful execution of therapy. As a competent and timely outpatient medical care by practitioners often cannot be achieved in Germany, telemedicine concepts are interesting alternatives for outpatient respiratory care. The concepts published so far mainly comprise a modem-based transfer of oxygen saturation in combination with a telephone hot-line or regular telephone contact by the home mechanical ventilation center to inquire about the clinical condition of the patient. This article describes possible fields for telemedicine to improve quality of home mechanical ventilation. It summarizes the studies published in this field and introduces a current study which is based on regular video-based rounds between the center for home mechanical ventilation and patients. In closing a perspective of further possible fields of telemedicine in home mechanical ventilation is described.