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“Good morning! It’s time
to take your vitals.” That is the greeting Janet Rutledge
receives every morning at 9 a.m. The voice is coming from her
Telehealth home health monitor.
Janet steps on the scale, slips a pulse oximeter on her finger
to check her oxygen level, sits down to put on a blood pressure
cuff, and registers all of the information. The voice proceeds
with questions related to her condition, such as, “Are you
having more trouble breathing today than yesterday? Did your
doctor change or add any medication?” Janet answers the
questions by pressing the corresponding “yes” or “no” buttons on
the monitor.
The information obtained through the Telehealth home health
monitor is transmitted to a central monitoring station, where it
is reviewed by Ginny Bockert, RN, Telehealth nurse, to determine
if additional care is required. Ginny, a Home Health nurse,
assesses the results and communicates Janet’s status or any
changes to her physicians.
“Janet’s health is fragile,” Ginny says. “With congestive heart
failure and myelocytic leukemia, her health can deteriorate
quickly. In the past, that meant that she had to go to the
hospital. Now, with the monitor in her home, we are able to
check on her every day and make changes to her care so she
doesn’t have to be admitted to the hospital. It is everyone’s
goal—Janet’s, her doctors’ and the nurses’—to keep her healthy
and at home.”
Staying home and staying healthy is very important for Janet,
especially because she has been in the hospital more than six
times since September 2010.
“The home health monitor gives me a lot of peace of mind,” Janet
says. “I’ve had it since the first of the year and I know it has
helped keep me out of the hospital because problems or changes
in my health are caught early. I get a call from Ginny every
day, which makes me feel more in control of my health because I
have people helping me, but I am still able to be at home and
living my life.”
Ginny is proud of Janet’s progress since the Telehealth home
health monitor was installed. “Janet is very compliant in her
care,” Ginny shares. “She knows the signs of trouble and she
knows what she can and can’t do. She has more of a voice in her
care now. I think knowing that we are here for her has provided
a lot of comfort, and it has allowed her to continue enjoying
her life as much as possible.”
With a weekly visit to her oncologist, two weekly visits from a
Home Health nurse and the daily checkups from the Telehealth
home health monitor and Ginny, Janet feels that she is really
being cared for and that her health is being appropriately
managed.
By combining technology and high-quality medical attention, we
are able to provide Janet—and other patients like her—with the
care they require and the life at home they want. Telemedicine
is only in its infancy, but used correctly it will clearly save
lives. Lee Memorial Health System is blessed with caring people,
like Ginny, who provide innovative care every day and night for
special patients like Janet.
To learn more about Lee Memorial Health System, please visit
www.LeeMemorial.org.
Peace,
Jim Nathan
President, Lee Memorial Health System
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