<PAGE>   1

    AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON NOVEMBER 12, 1998

                                                 REGISTRATION NO. 333-
================================================================================

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              WASHINGTON, DC 20549

                            ------------------------

                                    FORM S-8

                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT

                                      UNDER

                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933


                                  VITALCOM INC.
               (EXACT NAME OF REGISTRANT AS SPECIFIED IN CHARTER)

                            ------------------------

        DELAWARE                                         33-0538926
------------------------                    ------------------------------------
(STATE OF INCORPORATION)                    (I.R.S. EMPLOYER IDENTIFICATION NO.)


                              15222 DEL AMO AVENUE
                            TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA 92780
                    (ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICES)

                             ----------------------


                        1996 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN
                            (FULL TITLE OF THE PLAN)

                            ------------------------

                                SHELLEY B. THUNEN
                             CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
                                  VITALCOM INC.
                              15222 DEL AMO AVENUE
                            TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA 92780
                                 (714) 546-0147
(NAME, ADDRESS, AND TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE, OF AGENT FOR SERVICE)

                            ------------------------

                                    Copy to:
                               BARRY TAYLOR, ESQ.
                                MARK BONHAM, ESQ.
                        WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI
                            PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
                               650 PAGE MILL ROAD
                            PALO ALTO, CA 94304-1050
                                 (650) 493-9300

                        CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>

==========================================================================================================
                                              AMOUNT     PROPOSED MAXIMUM  PROPOSED MAXIMUM   AMOUNT OF
                                              TO BE       OFFERING PRICE       AGGREGATE     REGISTRATION
  TITLE OF SECURITIES TO BE REGISTERED      REGISTERED       PER SHARE      OFFERING PRICE       FEE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>                                         <C>           <C>               <C>               <C> 
Common Stock, $0.0001 par value
  To be issued under 1996 Employee
  Stock Purchase Plan                        150,000        $1.92(2)         $288,000.00(2)     $81.00
                                            shares(1)
==========================================================================================================
</TABLE>

(1)  An additional 150,000 shares reserved for issuance under the 1996 Employee
     Stock Purchase Plan were registered under the Registration Statement on
     Form S-8/S-3, file number 333-03727 with the Securities and Exchange
     Commission on May 14, 1996.

(2)  The exercise price of $1.92 per share, computed in accordance with Rule
     457(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, is 85% of the average high and low
     prices of a share of VitalCom Inc. Common Stock as reported in the Nasdaq
     National Market on November 6, 1998. Pursuant to Section 2(m) of the 1996
     Stock Purchase Plan (Exhibit 4.1), shares are sold at 85% of the lesser of
     the fair market value of such shares on the Enrollment Date or on the
     Exercise Date.
<PAGE>   2

                                  VITALCOM INC.

                       REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-8

                                     PART II

                 INFORMATION REQUIRED IN REGISTRATION STATEMENT

ITEM 3. INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

        There are hereby incorporated by reference in this Registration
Statement the following documents and information heretofore filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") by VitalCom Inc. (the
"Company"):

        (1) The description of the Company's Common Stock contained in the
            Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-A/A filed January 16,
            1996 pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of
            1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), as amended on February 13,
            1996.

        (2) The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended 
            December 31, 1997.

        (3) The Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
            March 31, 1998.

        (4) The Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
            June 30, 1998.

        All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment that indicates that all securities registered have been
sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed
to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be part
hereof from the date of filing of such documents.

ITEM 4. DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.

        Not applicable.

ITEM 5. INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.

        Not applicable.

ITEM 6. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

        The Company's Certificate of Incorporation limits the monetary liability
of its directors to the Company or its stockholders for breach of such
director's fiduciary duty to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware
General Corporation Law (the "DGCL") or, if the DGCL is not applicable, to the
fullest extent permissible under applicable law. In addition, the Company's
charter authorizes the Company by bylaw, agreement or otherwise to indemnify
directors, officers, employees and agents in excess of the indemnification
permitted by applicable law.


                                      II-1

<PAGE>   3

        Under the Company's Bylaws, each person who was or is a party or is
threatened to be made a party to, or is involved in, any proceeding by reason of
the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Company, or is or
was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or
agent of another corporation or other enterprise, shall be indemnified and held
harmless by the Company to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL against all
costs, charges, expenses, liabilities and losses (including attorney's fees)
reasonably incurred or suffered by such person in connection with such
proceeding. Such right to indemnification includes the right to be paid by the
Company the expenses incurred in defending any such proceeding in advance of its
final disposition. The Board of Directors has discretion to provide
indemnification to employees and agents of the Company with the same scope and
effect as the foregoing indemnification of directors and officers. The foregoing
right to indemnification and advancement of expenses under the Company's Bylaws
is not exclusive of any other right which any person may have or acquire under
the Company's charter, any statute, agreement or otherwise.

        In addition, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements
with each of its directors and executive officers and has obtained a directors'
and officers' liability insurance policy that insures such persons against the
cost of defense, settlement or payment of judgments under certain circumstances.

ITEM 7. EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.

        Not applicable.

ITEM 8. EXHIBITS.

Exhibit 
Number                          Description
-------                         -----------

   4.1      1996 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and form of agreement thereunder.

   5.1      Opinion of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional
            Corporation, as to legality of securities being registered.

  23.1      Consent of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional
            Corporation (contained in Exhibit 5.1).

  23.2      Independent Auditors' Consent.

  24.1      Power of Attorney (see page II-4).

ITEM 9. UNDERTAKINGS.

        A. The Company hereby undertakes:

           (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement to include any
material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously
disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such
information in the Registration Statement.

           (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new
registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.


                                      II-2


<PAGE>   4

           (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

        B. The Company hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any
liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Company's annual report
pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where
applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to
Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

        C. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Company pursuant to law, the Company's Certificate of Incorporation,
Bylaws or indemnification agreements, the Company has been informed that in the
opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is
against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore
unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such
liabilities (other than the payment by the Company of expenses incurred or paid
by a director, officer or controlling person of the Company in a successful
defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer
or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered
hereunder, the Company will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has
already been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question of whether such indemnification by it is against
public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the
final adjudication of such issue.


                                      II-3


<PAGE>   5

                                   SIGNATURES

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the
Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all
of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this registration
statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of Tustin, State of California, on this 11th day of
November 1998.

                                                VITALCOM INC.


                                                By: /s/ SHELLEY B. THUNEN
                                                    ----------------------------
                                                        Shelley B. Thunen,
                                                        Chief Financial Officer


                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

        KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below constitutes and appoints Frank T. Sample and Shelley B. Thunen,
and each of them, as his or her attorney-in-fact, with full power of
substitution in each, for him or her in any and all capacities to sign any
amendments to this Registration Statement on Form S-8, and to file the same,
with exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming all that
said attorney-in-fact, or his substitutes, may do or cause to be done by virtue
hereof.

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the
capacities and on this 11th day of November 1998.

           Signature                                Title
           ---------                                -----

/s/ Frank T. Sample                   President, Chief Executive Officer
----------------------------------    (Principal Executive Officer) and Director
Frank T. Sample


/s/ Shelley B. Thunen                 Chief Financial Officer (Principal
----------------------------------    Financial and Accounting Officer)
Shelley B. Thunen


/s/ Patrick T. Hackett                Director
----------------------------------
Patrick T. Hackett


/s/ Jack W. Lasersohn                 Director
----------------------------------
Jack W. Lasersohn


/s/ Timothy T. Weglicki               Director
----------------------------------
Timothy T. Weglicki


                                      II-4

<PAGE>   6





                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                    EXHIBITS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       Registration Statement on Form S-8


                                  VITALCOM INC.

                                November 11, 1998


<PAGE>   7

                                INDEX TO EXHIBITS


Exhibit 
Number                          Description
-------                         -----------

   4.1      1996 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and form of agreement thereunder.

   5.1      Opinion of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional
            Corporation, as to legality of securities being registered.

  23.1      Consent of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional
            Corporation (contained in Exhibit 5.1).

  23.2      Independent Auditors' Consent.

  24.1      Power of Attorney (see page II-4).
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "description": "FORM S-8", "secsgml_size_bytes": 15067}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "VITALCOM INC", "cik": "0001006026", "assigned-sic": "8744", "irs-number": "330538926", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-67109", "film-number": "98744254"}, "business-address": {"street1": "15222 DEL AMO AVE", "city": "TUSCAN", "state": "CA", "zip": "92680", "phone": "7145460147"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "15222 DEL AMO AVENUE", "city": "TUSTIN", "state": "CA", "zip": "92680"}}
1

    AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON NOVEMBER 12, 1998

                                                 REGISTRATION NO. 333-
================================================================================

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              WASHINGTON, DC 20549

                            ------------------------

                                    FORM S-8

                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT

                                      UNDER

                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                                  VITALCOM INC.
               (EXACT NAME OF REGISTRANT AS SPECIFIED IN CHARTER)

                            ------------------------

        DELAWARE                                         33-0538926
------------------------                    ------------------------------------
(STATE OF INCORPORATION)                    (I.R.S. EMPLOYER IDENTIFICATION NO.)

                              15222 DEL AMO AVENUE
                            TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA 92780
                    (ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICES)

                             ----------------------

                        1996 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN
                            (FULL TITLE OF THE PLAN)

                            ------------------------

                                SHELLEY B. THUNEN
                             CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
                                  VITALCOM INC.
                              15222 DEL AMO AVENUE
                            TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA 92780
                                 (714) 546-0147
(NAME, ADDRESS, AND TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE, OF AGENT FOR SERVICE)

                            ------------------------

                                    Copy to:
                               BARRY TAYLOR, ESQ.
                                MARK BONHAM, ESQ.
                        WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI
                            PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
                               650 PAGE MILL ROAD
                            PALO ALTO, CA 94304-1050
                                 (650) 493-9300

                        CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
==========================================================================================================
                                              AMOUNT     PROPOSED MAXIMUM  PROPOSED MAXIMUM   AMOUNT OF
                                              TO BE       OFFERING PRICE       AGGREGATE     REGISTRATION
  TITLE OF SECURITIES TO BE REGISTERED      REGISTERED       PER SHARE      OFFERING PRICE       FEE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock, $0.0001 par value
  To be issued under 1996 Employee
  Stock Purchase Plan                        150,000        $1.92(2)         $288,000.00(2)     $81.00
                                            shares(1)
==========================================================================================================
(1)  An additional 150,000 shares reserved for issuance under the 1996 Employee
     Stock Purchase Plan were registered under the Registration Statement on
     Form S-8/S-3, file number 333-03727 with the Securities and Exchange
     Commission on May 14, 1996.

(2)  The exercise price of $1.92 per share, computed in accordance with Rule
     457(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, is 85% of the average high and low
     prices of a share of VitalCom Inc. Common Stock as reported in the Nasdaq
     National Market on November 6, 1998. Pursuant to Section 2(m) of the 1996
     Stock Purchase Plan (Exhibit 4.1), shares are sold at 85% of the lesser of
     the fair market value of such shares on the Enrollment Date or on the
     Exercise Date.
2

                                  VITALCOM INC.

                       REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-8

                                     PART II

                 INFORMATION REQUIRED IN REGISTRATION STATEMENT

ITEM 3. INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

        There are hereby incorporated by reference in this Registration
Statement the following documents and information heretofore filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") by VitalCom Inc. (the
"Company"):

        (1) The description of the Company's Common Stock contained in the
            Company's Registration Statement on Form 8-A/A filed January 16,
            1996 pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of
            1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), as amended on February 13,
            1996.

        (2) The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended 
            December 31, 1997.

        (3) The Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
            March 31, 1998.

        (4) The Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
            June 30, 1998.

        All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment that indicates that all securities registered have been
sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed
to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be part
hereof from the date of filing of such documents.

ITEM 4. DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.

        Not applicable.

ITEM 5. INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.

        Not applicable.

ITEM 6. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

        The Company's Certificate of Incorporation limits the monetary liability
of its directors to the Company or its stockholders for breach of such
director's fiduciary duty to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware
General Corporation Law (the "DGCL") or, if the DGCL is not applicable, to the
fullest extent permissible under applicable law. In addition, the Company's
charter authorizes the Company by bylaw, agreement or otherwise to indemnify
directors, officers, employees and agents in excess of the indemnification
permitted by applicable law.

                                      II-1
3

        Under the Company's Bylaws, each person who was or is a party or is
threatened to be made a party to, or is involved in, any proceeding by reason of
the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Company, or is or
was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or
agent of another corporation or other enterprise, shall be indemnified and held
harmless by the Company to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL against all
costs, charges, expenses, liabilities and losses (including attorney's fees)
reasonably incurred or suffered by such person in connection with such
proceeding. Such right to indemnification includes the right to be paid by the
Company the expenses incurred in defending any such proceeding in advance of its
final disposition. The Board of Directors has discretion to provide
indemnification to employees and agents of the Company with the same scope and
effect as the foregoing indemnification of directors and officers. The foregoing
right to indemnification and advancement of expenses under the Company's Bylaws
is not exclusive of any other right which any person may have or acquire under
the Company's charter, any statute, agreement or otherwise.

        In addition, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements
with each of its directors and executive officers and has obtained a directors'
and officers' liability insurance policy that insures such persons against the
cost of defense, settlement or payment of judgments under certain circumstances.

ITEM 7. EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.

        Not applicable.

ITEM 8. EXHIBITS.

Exhibit 
Number                          Description
-------                         -----------

   4.1      1996 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and form of agreement thereunder.

   5.1      Opinion of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional
            Corporation, as to legality of securities being registered.

  23.1      Consent of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional
            Corporation (contained in Exhibit 5.1).

  23.2      Independent Auditors' Consent.

  24.1      Power of Attorney (see page II-4).

ITEM 9. UNDERTAKINGS.

        A. The Company hereby undertakes:

           (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement to include any
material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously
disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such
information in the Registration Statement.

           (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new
registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

                                      II-2
4

           (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

        B. The Company hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any
liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Company's annual report
pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where
applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to
Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

        C. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Company pursuant to law, the Company's Certificate of Incorporation,
Bylaws or indemnification agreements, the Company has been informed that in the
opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is
against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore
unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such
liabilities (other than the payment by the Company of expenses incurred or paid
by a director, officer or controlling person of the Company in a successful
defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer
or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered
hereunder, the Company will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has
already been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate
jurisdiction the question of whether such indemnification by it is against
public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the
final adjudication of such issue.

                                      II-3
5

                                   SIGNATURES

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the
Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all
of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this registration
statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of Tustin, State of California, on this 11th day of
November 1998.

                                                VITALCOM INC.

                                                By: /s/ SHELLEY B. THUNEN
                                                    ----------------------------
                                                        Shelley B. Thunen,
                                                        Chief Financial Officer

                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

        KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below constitutes and appoints Frank T. Sample and Shelley B. Thunen,
and each of them, as his or her attorney-in-fact, with full power of
substitution in each, for him or her in any and all capacities to sign any
amendments to this Registration Statement on Form S-8, and to file the same,
with exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming all that
said attorney-in-fact, or his substitutes, may do or cause to be done by virtue
hereof.

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the
capacities and on this 11th day of November 1998.

           Signature                                Title
           ---------                                -----

/s/ Frank T. Sample                   President, Chief Executive Officer
----------------------------------    (Principal Executive Officer) and Director
Frank T. Sample

/s/ Shelley B. Thunen                 Chief Financial Officer (Principal
----------------------------------    Financial and Accounting Officer)
Shelley B. Thunen

/s/ Patrick T. Hackett                Director
----------------------------------
Patrick T. Hackett

/s/ Jack W. Lasersohn                 Director
----------------------------------
Jack W. Lasersohn

/s/ Timothy T. Weglicki               Director
----------------------------------
Timothy T. Weglicki

                                      II-4
6

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                    EXHIBITS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       Registration Statement on Form S-8

                                  VITALCOM INC.

                                November 11, 1998
7

                                INDEX TO EXHIBITS

Exhibit 
Number                          Description
-------                         -----------

   4.1      1996 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and form of agreement thereunder.

   5.1      Opinion of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional
            Corporation, as to legality of securities being registered.

  23.1      Consent of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional
            Corporation (contained in Exhibit 5.1).

  23.2      Independent Auditors' Consent.

  24.1      Power of Attorney (see page II-4).