Impact of Remote and Virtual Technology on Home Dialysis.

In the U.S., regulatory changes dictate telehealth activities. Telehealth was available to patients on home dialysis as early as 2019, allowing patients to opt for telehealth with home as the originating site and without geographic restriction. In 2020, COVID-19 was an unexpected accelerant for telehealth use in the U.S. Within nephrology, remote patient monitoring has most often been applied to the care of patients on home dialysis modalities. The impact that remote and virtual technologies have on home dialysis patients, telehealth and healthcare disparities, and healthcare providers' workflow changes are discussed here. Moreover, the future use of remote and virtual technologies to include artificial intelligence and artificial neural network model to optimize and personalize treatments will be highlighted. Despite these advances in technology challenges continue to exist, leaving room for future innovation to improve patient health outcome and equity. Prospective studies are needed to further understand the impact of using virtual technologies and remote monitoring on home dialysis outcomes, cost, and patient engagement.