The University of Pennsylvania Health System has just kicked off its first-ever test of continuous, wearable patient monitoring, and the three-week pilot is being conducted with real inpatients in a hospital ward.

Monday, Penn Medicine launched a small-scale test of a wearable vitals monitor in a medical-surgical unit for cancer patients, Associate CIO Jim Beinlich confirmed to MedCity News. He said he was not allowed to name the technology vendor, but he said the monitors are FDA-approved hospital products, not consumer devices, and are worn on the arm.

The pilot is intended to be a proof of concept to see whether clinicians and patients like the monitors. “Is this a technology we should be moving toward over the next 3-5 years?” Beinlich wondered.

After a day and a half, the response seems positive, Beinlich reported.

“The nurse doesn’t have to wake you up to measure blood pressure,” he said. “That changes nursing workflow,” as nurses can take vitals remotely, rather than having to visit each bed. The system also gives patients a better chance of sleeping through the night.

Because of the short-term nature of the pilot, the monitors have not been integrated with the hospital’s electronic health record, so nurses still have to transcribe data and manually enter readings. If Penn Medicine determines that the new technology is more practical and cost-effective than traditional systems and keeps the system in place beyond three weeks, then the IT department will look at connecting the monitors to the EHR.

Already, Penn has had to make some adjustments. Beinlich said the wireless network had to be upgraded in the test unit in order to accommodate the monitors. An expansion of the program might necessitate further network augmentation.