Chronic Conditions & Cholesterol: Bundling RPM Devices and Lab Kits
Chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity, and hypertension don’t only present as isolated health challenges; they often turn into secondary complications, like high cholesterol. According to the CDC, elevated cholesterol is one of the leading risk factors for heart attacks, stroke, and overall cardiovascular disease, the #1 cause of death in the United States.
When Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is paired with lab kits, it offers a way to close gaps in preventative care. Impilo provides a unique pairing of RPM devices and lab testing so that health organizations can deliver a complete, at-home monitoring and testing experience for patients. In turn, reduces friction, improves outcomes, and catches risks earlier.
How Chronic Conditions Drive High Cholesterol
Chronic disease and cholesterol are tightly linked. Effective management requires both daily monitoring and periodic lab testing, which is essential in the progression of chronic disease management.
Diabetes: Insulin resistance disrupts how the body handles fats, leading to elevated LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and triglycerides while lowering HDL (“good” cholesterol).
Hypertension: High blood pressure damages arterial walls, making them more prone to plaque buildup when cholesterol levels are elevated.
Obesity: Extra weight, particularly visceral fat, contributes to higher triglycerides and LDL cholesterol.
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD): Reduced kidney function can impair lipid metabolism, increasing cholesterol and cardiovascular risk.
Why Bundling RPM and Lab Kits is Key
Providers might prescribe devices, like BP monitors or glucometers, to manage readings at home on a daily basis. Oftentimes, labs are ordered separately, leaving patients to manage those logistics on their own. This often leads to:
Low adherence: patients forget to get the lab work done or delay weeks or months.
Fragmented data: device readings and lab results live in different data silos.
Slower intervention: providers miss opportunities to adjust any medications sooner, due to the above challenges.
Impilo’s Role: Kitting Operations That Close Care Gaps
Impilo’s infrastructure makes this approach actionable:
Bundled device and lab kits: A single kit can include a blood pressure monitor, glucose meter, and a lab collection kit, all shipped directly to the patient’s home.
Impilo’s recent partnership with Ash, a leading at-home health testing platform
Unified data integration: Device data flows through Impilo’s API, lab results sync into the desired workflow, giving providers a full view of patient data without juggling multiple platforms.
Operational ease: Impilo manages procurement, shipping, returns, and refurbishment, while also integrating with lab partners. Providers can scale easily, without building a logistics infrastructure in-house.
Improved adherence: Patients receive clear instructions in a single package with a unified workflow. This makes it easier to complete both their monitoring and lab work, all in the comfort of their own home.
Example Patient Journey
Step 1: A patient with diabetes and hypertension is identified as high-risk for elevated cholesterol.
Step 2: The provider orders a blood pressure monitor, a glucose monitor, and a lipid panel lab kit through Impilo.
Step 3: The patient monitors blood pressure and glucose levels daily. The patient completes the at-home lipid panel lab at home.
Step 4: All results flow back to the provider within the Impilo Platform.
Step 5: The care team adjusts medications and care proactively, whether it’s adjusting antihypertensives, statins, or diabetes therapy.
Outcome: Instead of waiting months to uncover uncontrolled cholesterol, care teams can intervene earlier and reduce long-term cardiovascular risk.
Why This Matters Now
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading driver of both healthcare costs and mortality in the United States. At the same time, the prevalence of chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity continues to rise, creating a perfect storm for cholesterol-related complications and increasing cardiovascular risk. To address this growing challenge, Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) has emerged as a financially sustainable solution, with reimbursement pathways expanding to support the integration of both device-based monitoring and lab testing. Yet, many organizations face operational challenges in deploying these programs at scale. This is where Impilo’s kitting model provides a distinct advantage by bundling devices and labs into a single, streamlined kit, reducing logistical headaches, and enabling providers to act quickly while ensuring patients receive the tools they need for effective, continuous care.
