 New Jersey -- For seasoned nurse Kathy Reilly, RN, the opportunity to lead a new initiative in telehealth is like a dream come true. A
34-year veteran of Barnabas Health, Ms. Reilly comes to the job with a broad spectrum of nursing experience, including in the intensive care unit, cardiac care unit, telemetry unit and home health. She also has a vested interest in cardiac health due to the loss of her mother at an early age to heart disease.
Ms. Reilly, a resident of Forked River, NJ, oversees the Barnabas Health Cardiac Home Monitoring Program at Community Medical Center Home Health in Toms River, a telehealth program launched in early May. Telehealth, an ever-growing field where medical information is transferred through communication technology, provides clinicians with important information about their patients from a remote location. The technique is especially valuable for those with chronic disease conditions such as heart disease, and has proved to be beneficial in preventing frequent hospital re-admissions.
“The Cardiac Home Monitoring Program gives patients a sense of security, especially if they live alone,” emphasizes Ms. Reilly who explains that the goals of the program are to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations, reduce emergency room visits and keep patients healthy at home. “When I worked in Same Day Surgery I always would wonder what happened to my patients once they went home,” she reflects. “Now telehealth completes the circle because we can check on patients every day through the comfort of their homes.”
The program works by prompting patients to take their own vital signs each morning (blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen level and weight) by using equipment provided through a partnership by Philips Corporation and Barnabas Health. The equipment transmits information from the patient at home to the Home Health office automatically through the telephone line, where cardiac nurse specialists can monitor the data and respond to potential problems in accordance with guidelines recommended by the physician. Home Health will contact a patient’s doctor if there is a need for medical intervention or medication adjustments.
“Physicians are finding telehealth to be beneficial because they can see the trends of a patient’s vital signs over time,” explains Ms. Reilly whose oversight of the program includes education and training of nurses in telehealth, helping to set patients up with equipment and monitoring their vital signs. “Nurses are able to view a status report of a patient’s health on a more consistent schedule and more frequently than a scheduled visit to the doctor’s office. As a result of our interventions, we are increasingly able to spare patients a visit to the Emergency Room or a re-admission to the hospital.”
The Cardiac Home Monitoring Program is a free service available for patients who qualify for visiting nurse care through Medicare. Currently the program has over 20 patients with Congestive Heart Failure but Ms. Reilly hopes to be expanding the reach of telehealth in the near future. “I love being part of this new program our agency offers,” says Ms. Reilly. “Although nothing replaces the hands-on care our nurses provide to our patients, the use of new technology is a great tool to enhance our services and provide an even higher level of healthcare to the community.”
For more information about the Barnabas Health Home Health Care Services, Community Medical Center Home Health of the Cardiac Home Monitoring Program, please call 732-818-6800 or visit www.homehealthnj.com.
Date: August 2010
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