Lawrence, Lowell, Malden Mass. – Home Health Foundation, a proud member of Wellforce, has joined Blue Cross Blue Shield’s telemonitoring program for congestive heart failure (CHF) patients. Home Health Foundation will be providing Telehealth services through Home Health VNA of Lawrence, MA, Hallmark Health VNA of Malden, MA and Circle Home of Lowell, MA.
Telemonitoring is recognized as one of the most significant technologies of the decade and is currently practiced through hundreds of programs nationwide. Telehealth is a means of providing care, monitoring and education to patients in their own home using telecommunications technology. The telemonitoring system has two primary components: the home monitoring unit placed in the patient’s home, and the central monitoring station at the agency. Each day, at a designated time, an automated call is placed to the patient. A friendly voice on the telephone guides patients through the simple procedure to collect all of their vital signs data such as weight, blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen level and temperature. Patients are then asked a series of questions to answer yes or no to. The voice on the system can also be customized to speak different languages.
Once the Telehealth unit collects all of the patient vital sign data, it sends the data to the central monitoring station where an all-encompassing patient history is displayed for easy review and analysis. While using Telehealth, the patient continues to receive skilled nursing visits on a regular basis, but their daily vital signs are able to be monitored more closely, resulting in early intervention and proactive care. Telehealth works with ordinary telephone service.
“The use of telemonitoring dramatically enhances the home health care model of patient management,” said Lauren Crowley, RN, Palliative and Complex Care Program Manager. “As we partner with Blue Cross Blue Shield, the clinicians at Home Health VNA, Hallmark Health and Circle Home will assist their CHF patients in becoming active partners in their own health care management.”
Home Health Foundation, which includes Home Health VNA and Merrimack Valley Hospice, is one of the most respected, not-for-profit home health and hospice agencies in the region. A member of the Wellforce Health System, we’ve joined forces with Circle Home and Hallmark Health VNA, building upon our rich traditions of providing essential home health and hospice care in all the places patients call home. Together, we pledge to lead the development of a new era of innovation, with a relentless focus on transforming home-based care.