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Personal Health Monitor May Reduce Rehospitalization

NYU Langone Medical Center and Jewish Home Lifecare, a New York-based long-term care and rehabilitation provider, are partnering to test the benefits of telehealth technology for congestive heart failure patients. Doctors and nurses anticipate the personal health monitoring system will reduce hospital re-admission rates of patients at highest risk for re-hospitalization and help better manage their heart failure symptoms at home.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is the heart’s inability to pump enough blood to meet the demands of the body. The condition causes abnormal heart beats that lead to fatigue, shortness of breath and the most debilitating symptom — extreme build up of fluids in the body that causes swelling of the arms and legs.  Complications from CHF can lead to hospital admissions.

“Re-hospitalization is a major concern for patients who suffer from congestive heart failure,” said Stuart Katz, MD, director of the Heart Failure Program at NYU Langone Medical Center. “Anything we can do to reduce the high-rate of hospital readmission for this patient population by closely helping them manage their symptoms at home will be a great improvement for each patient’s quality of life.”

In the new pilot study, CHF patients from NYU Langone will receive in-home telehealth monitoring devices. The small device, called HealthBuddy links the patient directly to a Jewish Home Lifecare nurse through a simple telephone line connection. The patient is monitored through a daily health assessment. The technology tracks a patient’s daily responses to basic health questions, shares medical reminders and health tips with the patient to improve the management of their heart failure symptoms at home. A customized question and answer dialogue allows the nurse to assess the patient’s self-care skills and provide an opportunity for targeted teaching interventions to help patients avoid repeated hospitalization.  In addition, health care providers can proactively intervene if medical assistance is necessary by calling the patient.

“Telehealth technology has shown us time and time again that it can truly benefit our patients with chronic conditions,” said Bridget Gallagher, Jewish Home’s senior vice president of Community Services. “We are excited to team up with NYU Langone for the first time to help monitor their congestive heart patients at home and we look forward to seeing the positive results of this study.”

The study, a collaboration between NYU Langone and Jewish Home Lifecare, is being funded by the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation whose mission is to improve the health care and overall quality of life for the elderly of New York City.

Click to view PDF  of  Crane’s NY piece on this program

Media Inquiries: Lauren Woods| 212-404-3753| lauren.woods@nyumc.org

 

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