ABSTRACT
Background: Mobile electrocardiogram (mECG) devices are being used increasingly, supplying recordings to providers and providing automatic rhythm interpretation. Given the intermittent nature of certain cardiac arrhythmias, mECGs allow instant access to a recording device. In the COVID-19 pandemic, ways to limit in-person patient interactions and avoid overwhelming emergency and inpatient services would add value. Our goal was to evaluate whether a mECG device would reduce healthcare utilization overall, particularly those of urgent nature. Objective: To evaluate whether the use of a mobile ECG device would lead to decreased urgent healthcare utilization in individuals with symptomatic arrhythmias. Methods: We identified a cohort of KardiaMobile (AliveCor, USA) mECG users and compared their healthcare utilization 1 year prior to obtaining the device and 1 year after device activation. Results: 128 patients were studied (mean age 64, 47% female). Mean duration of follow-up pre-intervention was 9.78 months. 123 of 128 individuals completed post-intervention follow-up. Patients were less likely to have cardiac monitors ordered (30 vs 6;p<0.01), outpatient office visits (525 vs 382;p<0.01), cardiac-specific ED visits (51 vs 30;p<0.01), arrhythmia related ED visits (45 vs 20;p<0.01), and unplanned arrhythmia admissions (34 vs 11;p<0.01) in the year after obtaining a KardiaMobile device compared to the year prior. Conclusion: Mobile technology is available for heart rhythm monitoring and can give feedback to the user. This study showed a reduction of in-person healthcare utilization with mECG device use. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, strategies to limit unnecessary patient contact have value. The use of mECG devices can decrease the risk of exposure to patient and provider from COVID-19, avoid overwhelming emergency and inpatient services during the pandemic, and may decrease healthcare costs. Given the increases in healthcare costs in recent years, methods to safely and effectively limit cost are needed. One possible strategy could be the use of mECG devices.