Introduction: The increasing use of insertable cardiac monitors (ICMs) for long-term continuous arrhythmia monitoring creates a high volume of transmissions and a significant workload for clinics. The ability to remotely reprogram device alert settings without in-office patient visits was recently introduced, but its impact on clinic workflow compared to the previous ICM iteration is unknown.
Methods: The aim of this real-world study was to evaluate the impact of device reprogramming capabilities on ICM alert burden and on clinic workflow. Deidentified data was obtained from US patients and a total of 19 525 receiving a LINQ II were propensity score-matched with 19 525 implanted with LINQ TruRhythm (TR) ICM based on age and reason for monitoring.
Results: After reprogramming, ICM alerts reduced by 20.5% (p < .001). Compared with patients monitored with LINQ TR, patients with LINQ II had their device reprogrammed sooner after implant and more frequently during follow-up. Adoption of remote programming was projected to lead to an annual total clinic time savings of 211 h per 100 ICM patients managed.
Conclusion: These data suggest that utilization of ICM alert reprogramming has increased with remote capabilities, which may reduce clinic and patient burden for ICM follow-up and free clinician time for other valuable patient care activities.
Keywords: clinic workflow; device alert; implantable loop recorder; insertable cardiac monitor; remote programming.
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