Telehealth—A new way to care
Community Nurses now uses telehealth units in some patient homes to supplement their care.
How does it work?
A video or a non-video Patient Station is placed in the patient’s home while the Central Station is located in the Community Nurses office. The nurse uses the Central Station to collect information from the patient’s monitor, assess it, and address any concerns. Telehealth units are easy to use and function over ordinary telephone lines.
VIDEO UNIT
For those using a video unit, the nurse conducts a visit by calling the patient. The nurse and patient can see and hear each other while the clinician obtains visual and verbal information, and gathers and takes snapshots of areas of interest.
NON-VIDEO UNIT
With non-video units, the patient follows simple instructions to take vital signs, enters information, and forwards it with a push of the button back to our nurses at the office.
Which patients should be considered for home telehealth?
Home telehealth is most appropriately used on high risk, chronically ill patients.
Examples include:
- CHF
- COPD
- Diabetes
- Asthma
- Wound Care... and others
What does telehealth offer?
Interactive home telehealth allows the Community Nurses the ability to visit and monitor our patients in the comfort of their homes, in-between regular visits. This offers added security and timely intervention to help prevent hospitalizations and emergency room visits.
Telehealth offers a system that features live video/audio and medical peripherals such as:
- Stethoscope
- Blood pressure meter
- Scale
- Pulse oximeter
- Glucose meter
- Digital image capture (suitable for wound and diabetes applications among others)
How does telehealth benefit our patients?
- Better access to care/responsiveness to care
- Earlier intervention
- Earlier, faster information on the health of your patients
- Reduced hospitalization and emergency room visits
- Ability for patients to remain independent longer
- Enhanced patient quality of life