HomMed Telemonitoring System

Patients Check and Transmit Vitals from Home
BJC Home Care Services was first in the area to offer this service

Since 2001, BJC Home Care Services and HomMed, LLC have provided transplant patients and those suffering from chronic illnesses with an innovative health-monitoring system. The HomMed Telemonitoring System collects patients' vital signs daily and transmits the information to BJC Home Care Services registered nurses at a Monitoring Center, who review it immediately. The technology lets patients receive daily medical attention in their homes, allowing peace of mind and independence between home-care visits.

The HomMed system collects heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, body weight and temperature. It also can measure blood sugar, lung functions and blood-clotting times. The small unit includes a blood-pressure cuff that can be put on with one hand, oxygen saturation sensor, digital thermometer and scale. A spirometer and glucometer also can be connected. The data collection takes approximately three minutes.

Each day the unit notifies the patient to take their vital signs, using a friendly voice to guide the patient through the simple procedures. If any part of the data is outside of parameters prescribed by the patient's physician, an alert is sent immediately to the Monitoring Center and the patient is called. The stored data shows trends ranging from one week to six months and longer. Users also can check their vitals throughout the day with immediate feedback without transmitting the results to the Center.

Home telemonitoring has many benefits. Medical irregularities are detected before they become problematic. Patients become more aware of their condition and how diet, activity and other factors affect their medical state. They save time, eliminate the expense of travel to a doctor's office, and reduce their health care costs.

A study conducted at Ochsner Clinic (New Orleans, Louisiana), Vanderbilt University and the University of Iowa focused on 53 congestive heart failure (CHF) patients who used the HomMed Home Telemonitoring System for three months, and compared their results with a group of 60 nonmonitored CHF patients. Of the trial group, 95 percent used the device daily and they had a lower hospitalization rate and a reduced rate of Emergency Department visits preceding hospitalization when compared with the nonmonitored group.