Remote monitoring :a step toward the introduction of home ventilation ?

In view of the foreseeable increase in the target population, in 2012 the CNEDiMTS recommended authorizing the initiation of NIV at home {1}, under strictly controlled conditions, in stable adults with daytime or nighttime hypercapnia corrected by level 1 nocturnal ventilation (≤ 8 hours/day). The initiation of treatment by the service provider in collaboration with a healthcare professional includes the regular recording and transmission of ventilator data to the prescribing physician.
To date, the LPP still provides for coverage by VNI after hospitalization in a specialized unit {2}. According to the 2023 telemonitoring registration notice {3}, the CNEDiMTS considers that telemonitoring (which includes the automatic collection and transmission of ventilator data) can be offered to ensure patient safety upon their return home and thus enable earlier discharge through remote support and close monitoring.
Real life ahead of the curve
A 2023 study {4} reveals that outpatient initiation of NIV is already a reality in France. Using data from the National Health Data System (SNDS), the trajectories of 54,545 people with COPD prior to reimbursement for NIV between 2015 and 2019 (median age 70) were analyzed. Four typical trajectories were identified and ranked in order of increasing severity.
Patients in cluster 1 were the most numerous (35,975 patients; 66%). They had recently diagnosed COPD and a better prognosis. For 11,405 of them (21% of the total cohort), who were younger (median age 68 years) and had fewer comorbidities, NIV was initiated at home or during a pulmonology consultation, in a stable condition and without prior hospitalization.
Towards recognition of home initiation of NIV in France?
The authors highlight the growing interest in outpatient initiation of NIV in terms of efficiency: a home-based study using telemedicine {5} demonstrated its non-inferiority compared to hospital initiation, as well as a cost reduction of more than 50%.
Digital medical devices such as Vestalis, used in remote medical monitoring, are designed to facilitate and secure the initiation of NIV at home.
The organization to oversee this practice in France still needs to be tested. This is the objective of the VENTILADOM project led by the French Federation of Pulmonology and GAVO2.

References :
1. HAS / CNEDiMTS (Commission Nationale d’Evaluation des Dispositifs Médicaux et des Technologies de Santé). Avis du 20 novembre 2012.
2. Liste des Produits et des Prestations. Code LPP1196270. VENTILATION ASSISTEE, < A 12 HEURES.
3. HAS / CNEDiMTS. Avis du 21 mars 2023.
4. Pepin JL, Lemeille P, Denis H, Josseran A, Lavergne F, Panes A, Bailly S, Palot A, Prigent A; medXcloud group. Health trajectories before initiation of non-invasive ventilation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a French nationwide database analysis. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2023 Aug 29;34:100717. doi:10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100717. Accessible sur : https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37927425/
5. Duiverman ML, Vonk JM, Bladder G, et al. Home initiation of chronic non-invasive ventilation in COPD patients with chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure: a randomised controlled trial. Thorax. 2020;75(3):244–252.