TeleMonitoring & digitized Point of Care for Improved Treatment & Physician Communication

One of Boca Home Care’s primary treatment goals is to keep patients at home and out of the hospital. A successful method utilized to prevent hospital re-admissions is the through our use of Telemonitor technology.

Boca Home Care’s telemonitor program has been in place for 4 years. Patients with chronic diseases, such as Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and other Cardiac conditions, Hypertension, or Emphysema greatly benefit from telehealth as the systems provide very timely information on early signs of complications that can arise gradually and subtly.

Telemonitor systems are remote phone based systems that are placed in the home of the patient.

The user friendly device, about the size of a candy box;

• Captures blood pressure reading
• Pulse rate
• Weight
• Oxygen levels

All that is required is a working phone line. Once a day the system will prompt the patient to take his/her readings. The machine will also ask for yes or no responses to specific questions about disease specific symptoms. The information is then linked to a computer in the office where Boca Home Care’s skilled telemonitor nurse expertly monitors the data. If there are any deviations from normal parameters, the physician is immediately notified. The physician may change the patient’s medications, request the patient be seen in his office or intervene in other ways to prevent the symptoms from escalating to a full blown crisis that could require hospitalization or an emergency room visit.

Research on the benefits of telemonitoring in reducing hospitalization shows that hospital readmission rates were decreased from 45% to 25% (Alston, 2009). Further benefits include the patient having an increased awareness of their cardiac disease and symptoms and improvement in quality of life (Kleinpell and Avitall, 2005). Finally, patients take better control of self monitoring their disease and its symptoms with the telemonitor present (Dineson, 2008).

Boca Home Care has found that most of our patients are very comfortable using their telemonitor once their Registered Nurse shows them how it works and its benefits to their recovery and overall health. The telemonitor serves as an excellent adjunct to the Registered Nurses visits; so while the nurse may be visiting the patient 2-3 times per week, Boca Home Care’s experienced professionals are monitoring the patient daily through use of this medical technology. There is no charge for having the system in the home during the active home care service.

Physicians working with Boca Home Care describe their satisfaction with receiving regularly updated patient information. They find the telemonitors extremely useful in enhancing their ability to treat and better manage their patient’s conditions. Furthermore, the doctors see and appreciate improved outcomes as a result of the daily monitoring capabilities used by Boca Home Care.