HCR Home Care, a certified home health care agency serving patients in upstate New York, announced today that it has entered into a business relationship with Cardiocom to provide advanced home telehealth technology to patients with chronic illness, according to a story on yahoo.com.
Cardiocom, Experts in Telehealth(SM), is a developer, manufacturer and clinical service provider of telehealth solutions. Telehealth is the way doctors work with remote patients, using electronic information and telecommunications technologies, to provide long-distance clinical care.
The use of telehealth can get patients speedy treatment, reduce or eliminate travel expenses, reduce or eliminate the separation of families during difficult and emotional times, use the services of healthcare providers in locales where the supply of physicians may be inadequate or at a surplus, and probably one of the most enjoyed aspects, allow patients to spend less time in waiting rooms, according to telehealthleadership.org, a health care blog.
Cardiocom's telehealth system provides ways to proactively manage patient care, according to the press release at yahoo.com. HCR patients with heart failure can use the Cardiocom Commander Telehealth System to communicate with an HCR nurse, according to the release. The Commander Home Telehealth Systemguides the patient through an interactive "Health Check" that includes the collection of symptoms, a review of care plan compliance, and the input of vital signs such as weight, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and heart rate, according to the press release. This can be done every day.
The information is immediately transmitted over a standard phone line or a cellular signal to the HCR, providing a lifeline when the doctor or nurse can’t be there in person, as reported in the press release.
"By transmitting objective, real-time health data every day, the patient is connected to our medical team so that their care plan can be adjusted as needed,” says Elizabeth Zicari, HCR's vice president of patient services in the press release. “HCR has used telehealth monitoring with many of its patients in the past, but this new system uses today's most advanced telehealth monitoring technology. We anticipate that Cardiocom's unique system will improve our patients' engagement and quality of life. We're thrilled to be able to provide our patients with peace of mind and a sense of security when they're most vulnerable."
Deborah DiSesa Hirsch is an award-winning health and technology writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and IBM in her 20-year career. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
