The VNA of Hudson Valley is the only home care facility in Westchester County to have video capabilities with its patient home monitoring system. ?With the video camera, we can see actual changes in patients? wound and incision sites or in their ankle edema, for example,? said Margaret DiLascio, RN, BSN, telehealth nurse at the VNA of Hudson Valley. ?It gives us real-time results.?
The video capabilities do not substitute for home visits, but give nurses the chance to review ongoing results in the office and talk directly with patients about their symptoms on a regular, if not daily, basis. DiLascio or one of the other telehealth nurses on duty can listen to patients? lung sounds via video and follow up with patient and family teaching about coughing and deep breathing and nebulizer use, depending on the patient?s needs. They also can observe patients? insulin administration techniques or assess for any identified signs and symptoms of infections.
?Through the video system, we can read medication bottle labels to confirm with patients that they are taking the correct medication and the correct dose,? DiLascio said. ?They don?t have to wait for the next home visit.?
More than 100 years old, the VNA of Hudson Valley provides nursing services seven days a week to patients who live in Westchester County, which covers both rural and densely populated regions. ?I like that I keep in direct contact with patients in my telehealth role,? DiLascio said. ?I?ve learned how to educate and talk with patients through our video system because it?s not the same as when you are right there demonstrating in person. We have so many more patient teaching possibilities open to us now.?
In the past nine months, the VNA has added air cards to about 20 of their 60 systems, which allows patients to use the home monitoring system anywhere in the home. ?These cards give us an additional advantage because we can use them in homes where accessibility might be difficult,? said Louise Newcombe, RN, BS, MA, vice president for certified services.
With the home monitoring system, patients still transmit basic data, such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels and weight, to the telehealth nurse at a specific time every day. They also answer a series of questions tailored to their specific diagnosis and symptoms. Based on this feedback, the telehealth nurse may call the patient to get more information, call the physician for a change in orders, have a nurse visit the patient or choose to meet with the patient by video camera, depending on the patient?s needs. Nurses also use the home monitoring system as a way to learn more about what patients need to know about their health and well-being.
?We?re always looking for ways to decrease hospital readmissions, and we?ve been successful on a number of occasions,? Newcombe said. ?The video cameras give us another way to give our patients timely and quality care.?
