MASSACHUSETTS NURSE NEWSLETTER :: May/June 2008

Through the use of new, in-home telemonitoring technology, patients of the Visiting Nurse Association of Cape Cod are getting a check-up daily in the comfort of their homes, allowing for early intervention when a health problem is detected and decreasing both emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

The Honeywell HomMed Health Monitoring System allows patients to check their vital signs daily, allowing irregularities to be caught before they become full-fledged problems. The daily monitoring devices helps eliminate the two or three-day gaps of information that typically occur between home visits, providing patients and their families with increased peace of mind.

Considered as part of the “standard of care” at the VNA of Cape Cod, the telemonitoring devices, about the size of an alarm clock, can collect a variety of vital signs – such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and body weight – in just three minutes time. The system also can be programmed to ask up to 10 “yes/no” questions in 11 languages. Data is transmitted via a telephone line for review by VNA of Cape Cod clinicians.

“We certainly see results from here,” said Judith Rose, an MNA member and chair of the bargaining unit at VNA of Cape Cod. “The impact has been significant; the reduction of patients going to the hospital is substantial.”

The VNA of Cape Cod is one of a rapidly growing network of more than 250 clinical sites in the U.S., Canada and Germany to use the Honeywell Health Monitoring System. Studies conducted by Strategic Healthcare Programs, a healthcare data services company, concluded that the HomMed-monitored patients experience fewer hospitalizations and emergency room visits than unmonitored patients.

VNA of Cape Cod receives Award of Excellence
The VNA of Cape Cod is one of two home health agencies in Massachusetts out of 36 to achieve an Award of Excellence for its achievement related to the MassPRO 8th Scope of Work. The VNA of Cape Cod has significantly reduced its acute care hospitalization rate over the past three years from 32.28 percent in January 2005 to 25.77 percent in December 2007 compared with the calculated reduction of failure mode (RFR) of 29.5 percent. “This is a remarkable accomplishment and one we are very proud of,” according to Judith Rose, MNA member and chair of the bargaining unit at the VNA of Cape Cod. “By delivering enhanced care to patients in their homes, we are seeing a reduction in the number of patients who must be hospitalizedthis is our constant goal.”