patients feel that we are paying attention to them, keeping them healthy and at home with their symptoms managed
BOSTON (PRWEB) March 01, 2018
Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice, an affiliate of Hallmark Health System, is one of many healthcare organizations to have partnered with innovative telehealth company, Health Recovery Solutions (HRS), in August 2017 to provide its chronic disease patients with unique telehealth technology to manage their at home care.
The partnership between Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice and HRS resulted from a need to improve outcomes for chronic disease patients specifically those with congestive heart failure (CHF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Patients with CHF and COPD, placed on telehealth were provided with 4G tablets loaded with HRS’ disease specific software. Tablets were paired with Bluetooth peripheral biometric devices allowing patients to take and track their vitals such as blood pressure, weight, heart rate, and more. The software also allows patients to manage their medication, take daily symptom surveys, receive alerts to take their vitals, and provides them with educational content on their condition.
Meanwhile, clinicians at Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice monitored patient vitals and responded to any high-risk alerts when a patient was at risk for an ED visit or readmission. Clinicians also communicated with patients when necessary through phone, text and video conferencing all available through the HRS software.
Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice has been successfully using telehealth to lower their hospital readmission and ED utilization rates since August 2017. From August to October 2017, Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice telehealth patients saw a hospital readmission rate of 17% and from October to December 2017, they saw an impressively low rate of 5.4%.
Britney Masse, RN at Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice is one of four nurses who actively monitors patients. Masse shared a story about being able to determine that a patient with a pacemaker needed to have her pacemaker reprogrammed by her cardiologist when she noticed her tachycardic episodes through telehealth. Britney believes that telehealth is important not only for catching such life threatening conditions but also because it augments traditional patient care. She adds, “Patients feel that we are paying attention to them, keeping them healthy and at home with their symptoms managed.”
Regarding their low readmission rates Gina Serino, RN, Clinical Team Manager at Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice, states, “The continuity and education of our four nurses monitoring patients allows us to do a really good handoff and outreach to make sure we are actively taking care of patients and their needs.” With such great outcomes, Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice is hoping to grow their program significantly in the coming year.
Jarrett Bauer, CEO of HRS, highlights, “We are thrilled to see such amazing outcomes from Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice and are looking forward to their future with telehealth.”
For more information on Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice, call (781) 338-7800 or visit https://www.hallmarkhealth.org/Hallmark-Health-VNA-and-Hospice.html
For information on Health Recovery Solutions, call (347) 699-6477 or visit http://www.healthrecoverysolutions.com.