Mobile Cardiac Telemetry (MCT) is a part of the emerging science of wireless monitoring in the health industry. Typically, MCT is used in the identification and treatment of heart conditions.

Telerhythmics, LLC, established in 1997, is a 24-hour cardiac event monitoring service provider used on an outsourced basis by hospitals and physician offices. Based in Memphis, Tennessee, Telerhythmics provides its monitoring services nationwide.

Their goal is to act as an extension of a doctor’s office or hospital system providing top-notch analysis of diagnostic data generated by a patient undergoing MCT monitoring, according to Telerhythmics Vice President and General Manager, Jason Callaway.

Determining the Need

Any patient reporting an abnormal heartbeat or chest pain to his/her physician is an ideal candidate for Ambulatory Cardiac monitoring. Indications for MCT monitoring include: asymptomatic arrhythmias, complete syncope, medication titration, post CABG and post ablation.

In the past, 24-hour monitoring was the industry standard, but with improvements to wireless MCT technology, it is now much easier to monitor patients over a longer period — anywhere from a few days to a month.

“Most arrhythmias that patients have, if they’re transient, don’t occur within a 24-hour or 48-hour period,” said Callaway.

A heart monitor paired with a Bluetooth-enabled mobile device is all it takes for Telerhythmics to gather and interpret patient data.

Setting Up

Once a doctor determines a patient would benefit from MCT, setting it up is easy. All relevant patient demographics and insurance information are collected when the heart monitoring device is applied to a patient by the doctor’s staff.

Baseline diagnostics are collected and sent to Telerhythmics to ensure everything is working properly, and then patients are free to go about their daily business until it is time to return to the doctor for their results. The length of monitoring is at the discretion of the doctor.

Monitoring the Patient

Diagnostic data is continuously recorded by the device. When an anomaly is detected, the device sends data from the preceding and following five minutes to the Telerhythmics monitoring center. The data is then interpreted by a qualified, cardiac-trained registered nurse.

Telerhythmics provides 24/7 monitoring and quickly notifies doctors when abnormal patient diagnostics are detected.

Reporting the Data

Through the duration of monitoring Telerhythmics compiles the data and interprets what is most relevant for the doctor to make a diagnosis.

A comprehensive report will show all detected anomalies as well as provide comparative diagnostics with patient data that is automatically collected and stored every ten minutes regardless of whether an anomaly is detected.

The doctor is then free to interpret the data and form a diagnosis as he or she sees fit.

Final Thoughts

Above all else, Telerhymics is committed to facilitating top-of-the-line service from doctors to patients. With experienced cardiac nurses providing around the clock monitoring, physicians and patients receive the highest level of customized patient care.