What Is In-Home Telemonitoring?
In-home telemonitoring is the use of telecommunications and information technology to provide healthcare to patients in their own homes. The VNA provides patients with discreet in-home monitors allowing them to monitor their own vital signs—such as pulse, weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, or blood oxygen level—daily, as specified by their physician. If the readings fall outside a range prescribed by the physician, a patient’s VNA nurse can be notified, so appropriate action can be taken. A patient’s data can also be made available to nursing staff or to the physician via a secure website.
The Benefits of Telemonitoring
Approximately 100 million Americans suffer from one or more chronic illnesses such as congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Such conditions account for more than 75 percent of annual healthcare costs nationally.
What Our Patients are Saying
As of this writing, nearly 300 VNA patients have experienced the benefits of our in-home telemonitoring technology. Here’s what they’re saying:
By using in-home telemonitoring, healthcare providers can more effectively manage patient health, preventing exacerbations and complications which may lead to rehospitalizations and emergency room visits, especially among patients living with chronic illnesses.
- “My health before I had a telehealth monitor was very unstable.”
- “My nurse taught me everything I needed to know about telehealth in the first thirty minutes. From there, it was off and running.”
- “Before I had telehealth, there was only a certain amount of improvement in my health before I ran up against a wall.”
- “Home telehealth has made a difference in my life.”
What Can In-Home Telemonitors Do?
In-home telemonitors are not intended to eliminate in-home nursing visits. But they will help decrease the frequency of unnecessary visits, while maximizing the effectiveness of time spent in a patient’s home. Telemonitoring allows us to:
- collect patient vital data and transmit it to nurses and physicians daily for review
- ask a series of evaluative health-related questions tailored to meet our patients’ unique needs
- increase our response to patient needs as they occur
- provide patients with the right care, in the right place, at the right time
What Are the Benefits?
In-home telemonitoring provides patients and physicians with these benefits:
- improved self-management skills for patients living with chronic illnesses
- improved quality of life due to reduced hospital and emergency room visits
- increased patient independence and self-esteem
- increased patient satisfaction and compliance with healthcare regimens
For More Information
To learn more about our in-home telemonitoring program and how it may be of benefit to you, please contact us at 772.567.5551.
