Agency introduces new technology to assist patients with in-home care

In the spring of 2006 the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Missouri began using Honeywell HomMed monitors, a new device to supplement in-home care that can help monitor the health of patients daily.

The three-pound monitors can placed in a patient's home free-of-charge. Each day at a pre-set time, the monitor alerts the patient to step on a set of scales. The voice prompt can be programmed in one of eleven languages. The patient then has up to 30 minutes to respond.

When the patient steps onto the scales, a three-minute sequence is activated. The monitor collects the patient's heart rate, blood pressure and body weight. The monitor can also be programmed to collect other data and to ask up to ten additional questions about pain and wellness levels.

Once the information is gathered, it is sent through a telephone line to the central station located at the VNA office. A nurse at the location monitors each patient's status.

When any abnormal or questionable results are received, the patient's in-home care nurse will visit the patient that same day to check on him or her and to contact the patient's physician to receive further orders.

Since the modem that transmits the data is located inside the monitor, all that is needed is a telephone line.

The HomMed telehealth monitoring program is currently used to treat Medicare patients who have breathing or health problems, such as congestive heart failure or hypertension.

To receive a monitor, a patient must be a client of Visiting Nurse Association and receive a recommendation from his or her doctor.

Helen Sander, a Registered Nurse certified in Community Health at VNA and the association's professional communication liaison, said VNA will is planning to expand service to other patients as well. "We will soon be partnering with Oxford Home Health in Springfield," she said. "Oxford received a grant to expand the service to Medicaid patients." The grant will allow VNA to open up HomMed monitor service to women with difficult pregnancies who are on Medicaid.

The Honeywell system has received the Federal Food and Drug Administration's highest approval for a non-invasive medical grade device.

VNA is the only agency in Southeast Missouri that offers the Honeywell HomMed monitoring program. It is also the only association in Southeast Missouri that has been named to the top 25 percent of home care agencies in the United States by Medicare. "This is the first time they've ever done this," Sander said. "We didn't even know we were in the running."

More information about the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Missouri can be found at the association's Web site, www.vnasemo.com, or by calling (800) 286-5892.