Impact of Home-Based Monitoring on the Care of Patients With Congestive Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure (CHF) affects nearly 5 mil-lion people in the United States with an annual cost of $30 billion. Home-based telemonitoring is a therapeutic tool that may reduce costs and improve patient satisfaction. This article assesses the effec-tiveness of home telemonitoring in patients with class III or IV CHF recently discharged from the hospital. A cohort of patients (n = 83) were provided home telemonitoring for a 2-month period follow-ing hospital discharge. Home visit frequency, patient rehospitalization rate, emergency depart-ment use, quality of life, and health care costs were compared to a similar usual care cohort (n = 83). Patients in the telemonitor group transmitted their weight, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation daily to a telemonitor nurse who evaluated each patient with a follow-up telephone call. Daily home care telemonitoring reduced the frequency of home nurs-ing visits, provided cost savings, and was associ-ated with improved self-perceived quality of life. Congestive heart failure (CHF) has a tremen-dous impact on patients, the medical system,and society (American Heart Association, 2004