March 22, 2024
Data Without Distraction: Revolutionizing Vitals Monitoring During Ketamine Treatment
Written by
Alison McInnes, MD, MS
Ketamine has emerged as a promising treatment for various mental health conditions, but ensuring patient safety and collecting accurate data during sessions presents unique challenges.
Read on to discover a better way to automate vitals data collection without sacrificing the patient experience during ketamine treatments.
Issues with traditional vitals monitoring methods during ketamine treatments
Traditional intermittent vitals monitoring disrupts the therapeutic flow, creates data gaps, and increases error risk.
Patients can experience anxiety due to uncertainty about their physical state, while clinicians face administrative burdens from needing to check in on the patient and manually enter data.
What if there's a better way? Dr. Erick Sheftic, while setting up his interventional psychiatry practice, sought solutions that were safe, easy, tech-forward, and designed to enhance patient care without compromising his quality of life as a clinician.
A better way to monitor vitals: The Osmind-Caretaker Integration
Since 2018, the VitalStream device by Caretaker Medical has been a groundbreaking addition to ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. It stands out with its patented Pulse Decomposition Analysis algorithm, an FDA-cleared technology comparable in fidelity to an arterial line, typically seen only in ICUs or ORs. This makes it uniquely suited for use in ketamine therapy.
Meanwhile, Osmind is the #1 EHR used by most ketamine clinics in the United States. Beyond ketamine-specific workflows, all-in-one scheduling, payments, and patient engagement tools, Osmind integrates with Caretaker Medical so vital data is seamlessly auto-populated into your EHR.
Dr. Erick Sheftic found that the combination of Osmind and VitalStream by Caretaker improved patient care and reduced burnout. Here’s how:
- Beat-by-Beat Monitoring: VitalStream offers real-time, continuous monitoring of vital signs, delivering data with each heartbeat. Consolidate EKG and pulse oximetry under one umbrella, presented with a user-friendly interface. This integration ensures a holistic view of the patient's health. You’re able to track the patient’s physiological state with unparalleled precision.
- Psychological and Physical Safety: The VitalStream device, with its low-pressure wrist and finger straps, offers real-time, continuous monitoring and comfort. Capture more data points while avoiding the pitfalls of white coat hypertension. Monitor vital signs from multiple locations, including your office, without intruding on the patient's experience. Continuous monitoring reassures patients, allowing them to focus on the therapeutic aspect of the treatment without concerns about their physical well-being.
- Untethered Freedom: The device's design permits patient movement, avoiding disruptions during calibration and allowing normal activities like bathroom breaks. This aspect is crucial, considering future psychedelic treatments with longer half-lives, where patient movement will be essential.
- Reduce burnout with auto-population in EHR: The integration streamlines data entry, allowing you to import all vital signs into the Osmind EHR with a single click. Automated, error-free data entry eliminates the need for manual recording, increasing accuracy and consistency in less time.
Live Caretaker Demo: A Glimpse into the Future
Seeing is believing; here’s a live demo of how you can monitor vitals and transfer data to the Osmind EHR automatically:
Conclusion:
Dr. Sheftic's experience highlights the transformative potential of the Osmind-Caretaker integration. By streamlining clinician workflow with automated data transfer and reducing disruptions with continuous, non-intrusive monitoring, you elevate you and your patient's experience. Beyond enhancing safety and comfort, continuous vitals monitoring empowers data-informed care, boosts efficiency, and opens doors for future psychedelic therapies. It's a crucial step forward in ketamine treatment, redefining both the patient journey and the future of mental health care.
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