May 12, 2014 — Patients using the Boston Scientific Latitude remote patient management system with wireless telemetry demonstrated significantly lower mortality and fewer hospitalizations than patients with Latitude-compatible devices who were not followed on the system, according to results from the PREDICt-RM study (Patient RElated Determinants of ICD Remote Monitoring Utilization and Outcomes). The results were presented at Heart Rhythm 2014, the Heart Rhythm Society's (HRS) 35th annual scientific sessions in San Francisco.
PREDICt-RM demonstrated a 33 percent relative reduction in the risk of death in patients with Boston Scientific ICDs (implantable cardioverter-defibrillators) and CRT-Ds (cardiac resynchronization therapy devices) who were remotely monitored via Latitude, compared to patients who were not remotely monitored. Additionally, these patients experienced a 19 percent relative reduction in hospitalizations for any cause. The study outcomes were presented by Joseph Akar, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at Yale University and the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) in New Haven, Conn., and are a result of collaboration between Yale CORE, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and Boston Scientific.
"The PREDICt-RM results demonstrate improved outcomes for those ICD and CRT-D patients using the Latitude wireless remote patient management system," said Akar. "Despite the widespread availability of this technology, we know that it is underutilized. Our hope is that this study may inform clinical practice guidelines and promote the routine use of this technology in daily practice."
PREDICt-RM’s results were made possible via a unique research design that linked three large healthcare databases, illuminating the potential for "big data" and healthcare analytics to advance patient care. PREDICt-RM combined the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) from ACC, CMS data from Medicare, and the Boston Scientific Latitude system.
"No single database could have answered this question effectively. Through an innovative collaboration with ACC and Boston Scientific, we were able to leverage the strengths of each database to develop a deeper understanding of the association of remote monitoring with patient outcomes. We believe the PREDICt-RM experience should serve as a model for this type of investigation," said Jeptha Curtis, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Yale University and CORE.
"PREDICt-RM demonstrates that wireless remote monitoring using the Latitude system provides a significant benefit to patients and the overall healthcare system," said Kenneth Stein, M.D., chief medical officer, Rhythm Management, Boston Scientific. "We are very excited to have such strong data demonstrating substantially improved survival and reduced hospitalization rates in the patients followed on Latitude."
The Latitude remote patient management system connects a home communicator to the patient's implanted Boston Scientific device through wireless telemetry, enabling automatic collection of patient data. The system capabilities include transmitting physiologic data, as well as data gathered from the implanted device to the healthcare team's Latitude website. The Latitude system is the only implanted-device monitoring system with integrated physiologic monitoring of weight and blood pressure in the United States.
For more information: www.bostonscientific.com
November 18, 2024 
