New research released earlier this month showed that Biotronik’s home monitoring system significantly reduces mortality rates in patients who have implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs).

Biotronik, a cardiac technology manufacturer based in Berlin, Germany, has been offering their home monitoring system in the U.S. for more than 17 years. The recent research in the TRUECOIN meta-analysis, published May 11 in the European Heart Journal, showed that Biotronik’s home monitoring system reduced mortality and hospitalizations by 36 percent.

Here are six things to know about the study and its findings:

• How the system works: The home monitoring system connects patients to their providers by wirelessly transmitting their cardiac data to Biotronik servers. Physicians then have access to the data so they can properly interpret it and detect any problems.
• The study included more than 2,400 patients from three previous trials on Biotronik's system (the TRUST, ECOST and IN-TIME studies). The IN-TIME study was the first large-scale, randomized, controlled trial, which demonstrated a significant reduction in mortality in patients who had Biotronik’s home monitoring system.
• The findings: TRUECOIN, which collected data from 181 centers, revealed that by using the home monitoring system, all-cause mortality and hospitalizations could be reduced by 36 percent. “They were trying to verify that the mortality findings from the other studies were actually viable,” said Rupa Basu, the senior vice president of corporate accounts and strategy at Biotronik.

• The system is simple to use. Compared to its competitors, Biotronik’s home monitoring system automatically transmits data to physicians. Other systems require patients to manually send their information, which can cause inconsistencies in the event patients forget or just simply don’t want to. "With our device, all the patients has to do is keep their device chrged, versus our competitors, [where] the patient has to either put the device on top of where te implant is or they have to press a button to trasmit the information," Basu said.

• Will the system make money? Biotronik’s home monitoring system is already a leading option in its market, but the company hopes the TRUECOIN results helps it maintain its position. “Our home monitoring system is success already in the market, but this just reinforces that ours significantly reduces all-cause mortality,” Basu said.
• The system is cost-effective, saves time, reduces the risk of unnecessary hospitalizations and gives physicians more time to monitor patients without having to see each one in back-to-back appointments.