Medtronic Pacemaker Monitoring

App possibly just for medical staff?

by LondonAndy - 2023-10-14 13:27:53

I don't have any home monitoring for my Medtronic, and go to a pacemaker centre for annual checks. However, my device was replaced last October, and when I had the first checkup for that one the technician held a phone near my device instead of putting the heavy "puck" they have done before. 

I expressed my pleasant surprise at this development, and he confirmed it was Bluetooth technology. I wonder if this is just something for medics to use therefore, and will be interested to see what other replies are offered.

monitor

by new to pace.... - 2023-10-14 13:42:21

I have the bedside monitor , transmits nightly and the quartely.  I have not had any problems with it .  The light goes out in the dark and comes on in the daylight.  Generally transmitt around midnight and if not there will transmit when i get back.

While you are waiting for others to respond.  You can search by using  what looks like a  magnily glass by the log out.  Clik on that an put in your question.  As that has been discussed many times on this site.

new to pace 

No monitor..

by USMC-Pacer - 2023-10-14 15:01:16

All I have is the "MyCareLink Heart" app on my iPhone. It will transmit any episodes. Every 90 days I hit a "Send transmission" prompt.. That's it!

My last device had the puck thing to place on my chest and upload report. They were supposed to send me a box to send that back almost 8 months ago. I guess they don't want it back?

Phone App

by docklock - 2023-10-14 15:53:21

I have the "MyCareLink Heart" on my iPhone as well. I guess it can send via Bluetooth to my phone which uploads it to the Medtronic Kingdom. 
It automatically sends a 90 day transmission and lets me know it was received. 
Honestly don't know if it sends a daily trans or sends only if a problem.  
As long as I don't get a call from my Cardio guy saying: "I need to see you NOW" or a Medtronic message I pretty much forget I have it. 
Some people want to know everything that happens and some like me aren't too interested.  Both are right.  

I have the bedside monitor

by heartu - 2023-10-15 23:02:19

I have had the Medtronic bedside monitor for just over 3-1/2 years. No problem with it until I had to use the handheld on it to send a transmission as I seem to have developed aFib. Handheld piece battery was not charging so I could not transmit and they had to send me a new handheld. Base unit works fine and the doctor had to request a transmission for that evening instead of waiting days for the handheld to arrive.

My BIL has the phone app since Jan and it works well. Don't know though how well it worked when he spent 2 weeks in Europe earlier this year.

Monitor

by piglet22 - 2023-10-16 08:46:18

I was on F2F clinics for about 15-years until they announced that they were being closed down and I would get a bedside monitor through the post.

The MyCareLink turned up, plugged in and followed the instructions.

Not much from the hospital, though,  (UK NHS), like is everything OK? Any questions?

It would have been nice to know what it did. The screen lights up now and again and that's about it. If I'm not feeling well, I do the manual transmit button. I rarely get any feedback apart at the pre-arranged "virtual device clinics".

Even when the bedside monitor failed soon afterwards (chest reader not charging), the hospital weren't particularly interested and I ended up having to phone the Netherlands.

They also weren't interested in having it back and the physiologist suggested getting rid of it. You see them on eBay for £30.

I guess the bedside monitors are being phased out and replaced by phone apps. All well and good if you have a mobile and are good with apps.

The MCL uses two technologies. There's Near Field Communication (NFC) for chest reader to PM and Bluetooth for reader to base unit. Then there's the cellular communication from MCL to server somewhere.

Bluetooth equipped PMs will cut out the NFC bit, and mobile apps will cut out the base unit.

I think the UK approach is just cost-cutting and leads to less personal care.

If I get the phone app next replacement, it will be interesting to explore.

I don't have a lot of confidence in what the MCL is capable of and it certainly did nothing to pick up my deterioration this year.

Interesting that heartu had the same charging experience so points to a well-intentioned but poor design. It's a common failing with rechargeable devices that rely on sprung contacts.

Tarnishing will affect them over time as they aren't gold plated. A fibre glass brush and contact cleaner fixes that, but I'm not telling you that.

Comments

by rufe - 2023-10-16 09:40:22

Thank you to all that have been kind and shared their experiences with the monitoring solutions. I am still not sure which solution I am going with because I just found out that the annual cost is different depending on which solution I decide on. I am still trying to obtain the ongoing cost associated with either the remote monitoring unit and the app.

Thanks again,

Rufe

cost

by new to pace.... - 2023-10-17 18:02:09

I have regular Medicare  and a supplement policy it picks up the charges that the heart center sends to Medicare. Which pays for the quartely transmission along with the EP  Dr. who reads it. I was told since i have the nightly transmission, the quartely one is so Medtronic can get paid.

I went on the Care link site and signed up to get the notifciations after a successful transmission.  My sister also signed up and she get the notification.  I then contact the pacemaker clinic to ask for a copy of the log events and summary.  Just to check how i am doing.  For whatever reason  the pacemaker clinic's computer is not connected to the Heart center's computer.

new to pace