Monitoring patients safely in the comfort of their home
Telemonitoring
Sentara Home Health has effectively utilized home-based telemonitoring for many years to care for our patients in the comfort of their own homes. The system allows our patients to take vital signs, like heart rate, blood pressure, weight, and oxygen levels, in their home every day, as many times a day as they (or their physician) wish.
Ask your provider if you're eligible for telehealth services.
In addition to recording vital signs, physicians can request other customized information about their patient's health status.
Home monitoring equipment may include:
- Table
- Scale
- Blood pressure cuff
- Pulse oximeter
- Thermometer
Through a combination of in-home visits and telemonitoring encounters, Sentara Home Health nurses can identify worsening conditions early and notify physicians in time to prevent hospital admissions or emergency room visits. The Telehealth At Home program monitors patients with a variety of medical needs and diseases, including:
- Asthma
- Cellulitis
- Congestive heart failure
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- Pneumonia
- Pulmonary embolus
- Other eligible conditions identified by your health team
Each patient in the telehealth program is provided with a tablet loaded with easy-to-use software that is customized to meet the patient's unique needs. The tablet provides patients with educational videos and medication reminders. It comes equipped with monitoring devices, including a blood pressure monitor, scale, and pulse oximeter, allowing patients to take their vitals daily.
Additionally, we can communicate with the patient through the tablet without the need for a landline or internet connection.
- Measure weight, blood pressure, heart rate, glucose and SPO2 and track their readings
- View customized educational videos
- Access medication reminders
- Let clinicians know of symptoms through a daily survey
- Learn about their disease condition and how to manage it
- Track their medication adherence and progress
- Monitor a patient's vitals and symptoms in real time
- Respond to high-risk readings that could lead to a hospital (re)admission
- Track the patient's medication adherence
- Supplement education through videos and teach-back
Sentara to Home: Hospital at Home program
An additional telehealth option is our Sentara to Home: Hospital at Home program. This gives some patient being monitored in the hospital may have the option to continue healing at home.
Sentara To Home allows the patient to be discharged to home and continue daily monitoring and evaluation. Daily home health staff visits and virtual doctor visits (with in-person staff support) are provided to continue hospital-level of care at home. In-person and virtual visits will decrease as the patient’s condition improves.
During the first home health visit or prior to discharge (with special arrangements), Sentara To Home patients are given the equipment needed to monitor their vitals, including blood pressure, weight, heart rate, oxygen saturation and other data at home. These Bluetooth enabled devices provide seamless communication between the patient, home health staff, and the physician or advanced-practice provider (APP).
The goal of the Sentara To Home - Hospital at Home program is:
- To provide a safe alternative to hospitalization that includes close monitoring in the home environment
- To safely prevent unnecessary admissions, reduce length of stay, prevent readmissions and improve seamless quality of care for our patients
- To promote a smooth transition from emergency department visits or hospital stays to outpatient management prior to visits with specialists and primary care physicians
- To improve your experience by providing close monitoring, home health nursing and provider care through telehealth technology
Qualifying criteria for the Sentara To Home: Home to Hospital service
This is a voluntary program. Patients will need to qualify for the program if their doctor recommends it and they would like to participate:
- Willingness to participate in home monitoring and visiting personnel.
- Household capabilities to accommodate monitoring equipment and cellular service accessibility (minimum of 4G signal).
- Wi-Fi is not needed for this program. Typically, if you can use a cell phone in your home, you will be able to connect to the device.
- Reliable means of communication (i.e. landline or mobile phone) to allow for interaction with telehealth team.
- Ability to administer medications and use equipment.
- Insurance or other payer eligibility confirmed.
- No more than two injectable medications per day or on oral medication.
- Once a day lab draws if needed.