Patients at the Heart Center of Amsterdam UMC have been able to use HartWacht as a supplement to their care since 2024. With a blood pressure monitor, a small ECG device – about the size of a granola bar – and a mobile app, patients can measure their blood pressure and heart rate at home and have it monitored remotely.
This means that patients no longer need to visit their cardiologist as frequently, and doctors can monitor their condition on a daily basis. For physicians, this provides more accurate measurements and allows them to intervene faster when necessary.
Michiel Winter, cardiologist at Amsterdam UMC and Cardiologie Centra Nederland (CCN), co-leads the introduction of HartWacht within the hospital: “At CCN, we’ve already been using HartWacht to track data from more than 3,000 patients. Since implementing HartWacht, we’ve seen a decrease in ambulance calls for these patients. And because we can remotely monitor the patient’s condition, we can reassure them, provide advice, or intervene when needed. Our analyses show fewer visits to the emergency department, patients using HartWacht attend the outpatient clinic less frequently, and they require fewer hospital stays.
Working Smarter
Amsterdam UMC is the first academic hospital to adopt this program, enabling remote procedures like ECG monitoring. HartWacht is suitable for patients with high blood pressure, arrhythmias, or heart failure. The app allows cardiologists to work more efficiently. Jasper Selder, cardiologist and biomedical engineer at Amsterdam UMC and co-leader of this project, says: “It relieves us because all the normal health readings are filtered out. These are often the bulk of the measurements.”
All measurements from patients participating in the HartWacht program are analyzed by the HartWacht team in Dokkum, who assess the readings. Any abnormal readings are shared with the patient’s cardiologist. Selder explains: “Instead of cardiologists having to review dozens of heart rate and blood pressure measurements during the often busy clinic visits, we now get an immediate alert if any of these measurements fall outside the expected range. This gives cardiologists more time to focus on patient care. Abnormalities are detected earlier, not just during regular check-ups. Based on the identified issue, we, as treating physicians, can immediately determine if action is needed, such as adjusting medication or scheduling an additional follow-up.”
Reassuring
Winter’s experience at CCN shows that home monitoring provides peace of mind for patients who often live with a chronic heart condition: “For patients, it’s very reassuring as they receive instant feedback in the app after a measurement. It’s also a way to keep healthcare accessible and affordable. And because care is no longer tied to time and location, we as doctors can assist patients much more effectively and promptly. This results in high patient satisfaction and less unnecessary care.”