VNA’S TELEHEALTH MONITORING BRINGS BETTER PATIENT CARE INTO THE HOME
Courtesy Visiting Nurse Association (VNA), Collin LIVING WELL Magazine
“Good morning, are you ready to check your vital signs?” Patients of the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) are hearing those words all over northeast Texas each day as they prepare to take their vital signs. These daily check-ups are possible because of a technologically advanced telehealth monitoring system used by VNA.
The device is approximately the size of a clock radio. A user-friendly voice and lighted display guide patients through a series of procedures that measure their vital signs, after which they answer “yes” or “no” questions that are specific to their medical diagnoses. Telehealth monitors can record a patient’s weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen level.
Health data collected by the telehealth monitor are sent from the patient’s home through a phone modem or cellular transmission to a central station monitored by a VNA nurse, who evaluates the information.
If a patient’s vital signs are outside established range, the nurse will contact the patient for further assessment. If a problem is detected, the patient gets immediate attention instead of waiting for the next scheduled doctor appointment. The VNA nurse will consult with the case manager and is able to send a trend report collected by the telehealth monitor to the patient’s physician.
A key benefit of telehealth monitoring is that it helps VNA nurses closely observe patients between home visits and provide better care. “Because we are able to monitor patient health on a daily basis, action can be taken to reduce emergency room care or hospitalization,” notes Barbara Kendall, R.N., the lead telehealth monitor coordinator at VNA.
The telehealth monitor has proven to be an important resource in safeguarding the health of VNA patients. Patients also report feeling more comfortable and secure knowing that a nurse is monitoring their health each day.
VNA provides telehealth monitoring as an added benefit at no cost to its home care patients. VNA nurses install the telehealth monitor in the homes of patients and teach them how to use it.
To learn more about the benefits of telehealth monitoring or any of VNA’s other home health and hospice services, contact Elaine Harrison, R.N. at 972-533-4676 (cell) or harrisone@vnatexas.org. You can also go online at www.vnatexas.org.
