CMH wins $680,000 grant for telehealth systems

The Bolivar hospital will use the three-year grant to integrate Atlanta-based Patient Care Technologies’ well@home telehealth systems into its electronic medical records network.

Monitoring equipment will be placed in high-risk patients’ homes, and patients will learn how to submit information on pulse, blood sugar, electrocardiogram, respiration, oxygen intake and weight via a telephone connection. The equipment also provides disease education and helps patients manage their medications.

Patient information is automatically transmitted from the homes to patients’ electronic medical records, allowing physicians to monitor their conditions in real time.

“These patients may need constant monitoring but not hospitalization, and the new technology will give us that capability,” said Valerie Noblitt, CMH program director, in a news release. “This will go a long way to a goal of reducing hospitalization rates and improving outcomes.”