Rise Above Heart Failure with Technology

When your heart muscle doesn’t pump blood as well as it should, you want to do everything possible to manage your condition and avoid hospital stays.

Thankfully, many technologies make it easier to live with congestive heart failure (CHF).

What is telehealth?

Telehealth is a helpful tool in communicating with and counseling patients remotely.

By using a variety of communication devices — including smartphones, tablets and other mobile wireless devices or implantable devices — we can manage chronic conditions like CHF, all while you’re in the comfort of your own home. The most basic remote capabilities include monitoring weight and blood pressure via electronic scales and blood pressure cuffs.

There are also implantable devices, such as the CardioMEMS, that can be implanted into the pulmonary artery to transmit pressures to a central service center. Healthcare providers readily access electronic data results and note trends of these measurements over time, allowing them to offer you individualized suggestions to manage your health.

How does telehealth work?

• Two-way communication. Telehealth and telemonitoring tools allow you and your doctor to communicate directly. Depending on the technologies you’re using, your doctor can keep track of your vital signs while you access educational materials and support remotely.
• Appointments in comfort. With telehealth, you can have appointments with a cardiologist or a specially trained nurse online. We can offer advice and answer questions without you having to make the drive to a doctor’s office or hospital. If you do need more acute care, they will let you know.
• Fewer hospital visits. Remote monitoring interventions are more than just convenient. They also help reduce hospital admissions and readmissions of patients with heart failure. That’s because we can monitor your health daily, respond quickly to your changing medical needs and adjust patient care as needed since data are regularly sent to us.

Is telehealth safe?

You may feel uneasy about sharing your private information, but patient safety and privacy are our top priorities when we recommend telehealth options. To secure your health information and safety, we ensure our patient monitoring technologies comply with federal and state legal requirements for medical information privacy — including compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and security laws.

Telehealth is one of many in-home care solutions from Tanner Home Health. Learn more about our heart failure services at TannerHomeHealth.org.