The 30-Day Head Start: Cardiac RMS by DocGo Expands Access to Predictive Heart Failure Monitoring
Despite rapid technological advances across medicine, heart failure remains a consistent challenge to clinicians and a significant strain on our healthcare system. Yet there is a quiet revolution underway, shifting how heart failure itself is managed. At the forefront is Cardiac RMS by DocGo, a leading provider of cardiac remote monitoring and virtual care. Its newly launched CardioMEMS service enables clinics to operate more efficiently and manage heart failure proactively. For patients, it means fewer hospital visits, earlier interventions, and greater peace of mind through continuous monitoring at home.
Maryellen King, Nurse Practitioner and VP of Clinical Services at Cardiac RMS, views this as a significant step forward: “We’re the first, as far as we know, to combine remote CardioMEMS monitoring with a Registered Nurse-led Remote Heart Failure Program. To make a difference, you need to have the conviction and courage to move at the pace of innovation.”
CardioMEMS, a device developed by medical device and health care leader Abbott (NYSE: ABT), is a small wireless sensor implanted in the pulmonary artery. It measures pulmonary artery pressure (PAP), a critical early marker of fluid overload in heart failure well before patients exhibit symptoms (such as weight gain, swollen ankles, or shortness of breath). Data from the device is transmitted daily from a home-based pillow-like device, offering care teams a 30-day advance warning of potential decompensation, i.e., when the heart can no longer keep up with the body’s needs and symptoms worsen.
While CardioMEMS has existed for over a decade, its adoption has been gradual. Now, with improved insurance reimbursement, broader patient eligibility, and more recent clinical validation (post?approval studies showing reductions of nearly 58?% in hospitalizations per patient-year), it’s gaining traction.
Traditional tools like weight monitoring or symptom tracking catch heart failure too late, often after the patient is already on the brink of hospitalization. By contrast, CardioMEMS provides a real-time window into the patient’s hemodynamic status, allowing for early intervention. Instead of playing catch up post-symptoms, providers can make adjustments to diuretics or medications based on PAP trends.
A Shift from CVP to PAP Monitoring
Unlike central venous pressure (CVP) monitoring, an invasive, short-term approach typically limited to ICU settings, CardioMEMS is designed for long-term, remote use in the comfort of a patient’s own home.
| CVP reflects right-sided pressures (how blood returning from the body flows into the right side of the heart) and can be affected by factors such as tricuspid regurgitation (a leaky valve between the right atrium and ventricle) or intrathoracic pressure (pressure inside the chest from breathing or ventilation). CardioMEMS instead measures left-sided filling pressures (the pressure as oxygen-rich blood from the lungs flows into the left side of the heart), which give a more accurate picture in most chronic heart failure cases. |
King emphasized the importance of interpreting the CardioMEMS data within a broader care context.
“It’s an incredible data stream. When we see concerning trends, our nurses contact the patient immediately. We check on their medications, their diet, their symptoms, anything that might be contributing. Then we coordinate with their cardiologist.”
Many cardiology practices lack the capacity to monitor and act on daily CardioMEMS data. Cardiac RMS fills this gap with fully certified clinical staff, FDA-approved AI technology, and a robust virtual care infrastructure. Its integration of remote device monitoring with personalized care management allows providers to scale a high-touch model without overwhelming their internal teams.
Device Monitoring and Predictive Care
“It’s a natural extension of our model,” added King. “We’ve built systems to manage cardiac implantable devices, and we’re applying that experience to more advanced physiologic tools like CardioMEMS. It’s the next step in remote monitoring, providing earlier insight and delivering greater impact.”
With proactive tools like CardioMEMS, Cardiac RMS by DocGo helps achieve a simple, meaningful goal: fewer hospitalizations, better quality of life, and more time for patients to live on their own terms in their own homes.
