Clinical Outcomes
Recent clinical studies demonstrate that clinically actionable events are detected more quickly for pacemaker patients via remote monitoring, compared to in-office care and transtelephonic monitoring1. Remote monitoring is also shown to reduce the burden for in-office visits.
Pacemaker Follow-up: PREFER Study Results
The PREFER Study (Pacemaker REmote Follow-up Evaluation and Review)1 is the first randomized head-to-head test of CareLink® for pacemakers vs. standard in-office care and transtelephonic monitoring (TTM).
The PREFER study showed that remote monitoring of pacemaker patients via the Medtronic CareLink Network detected clinically actionable events (CAEs) more quickly than routine follow-up care via TTM and in-office visits.
What did the study conclude?
Clinically important and actionable events are detected more quickly and frequently by a strategy of pacemaker follow-up that includes remote interrogation instead of TTM monitoring. The value of TTM is limited and may be of clinical significance only for the detection of battery depletion. Systematic use of pacemaker follow-up with remote interrogation has the potential to improve outcomes by reducing the time between onset and detection of clinical pathology and indicated therapeutic options.
| Remote Interrogation | TTM | |
|---|---|---|
| CAE Detected Remotely | 66% (446) | 2% (3) |
| CAE Detected In-office | 34% (230) | 98% (187) |
Reference
- Crossley GH et al. Clinical benefits of remote versus transtelephonic monitoring of implanted pacemakers. J Am Coll. Cardiol, 2009;54(22):2012-9.