Today, I drove about 60 miles south of our office for a demonstration by one of our grant recipients of hi-tech telemedicine units they purchased with a $94,000 grant we gave them earlier this year.
The units are truly remarkable technology, offering a huge solution for connecting patients in rural locations to nursing offices that may be many, many miles away in more populated locales. They offer peace of mind to family members between scheduled visits by the nurse, helps reduce the anxiety of both the patient and family, and helps make it possible for patients to remain at home for care.
These units measure blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, blood oxygen levels, and record weight, among other things. It provides state-of-the-art monitoring of a patient's condition and the opportunity for the family caregivers and patients to directly talk with the nurse, ask questions and learn what to do next. By manipulating the small unit affixed with a camera, the family caregiver helps the nurse see the patient's wounds or check for swelling, discuss his or her overall condition and see them directly for conversation.
Six units, in operation in South Monterey County, were purchased by a Hospice Foundation grant given last spring to Central Coast Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice, Inc., based in Monterey. The funds were raised from the foundation's highly successful Southern Comfort BBQ and Auction at Massa Vineyard in Arroyo Seco, Calif. on Sept. 6, 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment