Senior Home Care Expands In-Home Patient Telemonitoring Program

CLEARWATER, Fla., Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of Senior Home Care's full complement of home health care services, the company is expanding its Telemonitoring Pilot Program to include three office locations in Florida – Gainesville, Naples and Ft. Myers.

Telemonitoring services, which Senior Home Care launched in Gainesville in July, 2012, have quickly gained traction with referring physicians and patients. They target high-risk patients with chronic conditions. Clinical visits combined with telephonic intervention have been shown to improve patients' outcomes, reduce hospital readmissions and enhance patients' understanding of their overall condition and progress.

In-home telemonitoring uses a simple system to link from a patient's home directly to their health care team at Senior Home Care. The goal is to allow the patient to have confidence and improve their ability to stay independent, while knowing their health status is being monitored, between visits, using the latest technology. Cardiocom, LLC is Senior Home Care's telehealth solutions provider. Cardiocom's Commander FLEX device enables Senior Home Care's patients to have 7-days-per-week monitoring of their vital signs, including pulse, blood pressure, daily weights and more (see cardiocom.com for more information). Data is transmitted to Senior Home Care, becoming part of the patient's established Electronic Health Record (EHR), which clinicians monitor, review and follow up as appropriate.

Maintaining real-time data in each patient's EHR is invaluable to Senior Home Care's referring physicians, especially those using Provider Link, Senior Home Care's online physician portal. Through Provider Link, participating physicians have 24/7 access to patient records for review, which also makes the process of electronically signing orders, authorizing referrals and documenting Face-to-Face encounters more efficient.

Patient Education, Self-Advocacy
Senior Home Care's Director of Disease Management, Judy Fenton, explains that "while telemonitoring services are a valuable tool when the patient is recovering from an acute illness or exacerbation of a chronic condition, Senior Home Care's patient-centered approach focuses on ongoing self management for the future." She adds, "During telemonitoring, our clinicians prepare patients for post-monitoring, so they are able to recognize their key signs and symptoms – such as weight gain and swelling of the feet -- that may require early intervention to prevent avoidable hospital re-admissions."

Innovation Enhances Quality Care
Technology is only as good as the clinicians behind it. Senior Home Care's clinicians utilize Telemonitoring as a tool for augmenting one-on-one clinical visits with patients, during which they use evidence-based guidelines for providing care.

"Senior Home Care continues to look for innovative ways to help improve patients' lives," Fenton says. "Telemonitoring is just one more way our home health care supports quality outcomes and seamless patient care, as well as adds value to the health care continuum."

Senior Home Care, Inc. has been treating seniors throughout Florida and Louisiana with quality home health care services since 1994. With nearly 50 branch locations (Senior Home Care in Florida and Synergy Home Care in Louisiana) and 1,800 employees, the company is one of the largest home health care providers in the Southeast. Working in conjunction with patients' physicians, Senior Home Care's nurses and clinicians treat more than 50,000 seniors each year in their homes and assisted/independent living facilities. The company's mission is to provide quality patient care in a compassionate and ethical manner while encouraging a lifestyle of independence. For more information, visit www.seniorhomecare.net.

SOURCE Senior Home Care