Innovative program monitors heart patients in their homes
August 2010
Cleveland Clinic Heart Care at Home blends innovative telehealth monitoring technology and home healthcare services to support patients following hospitalization for heart disease or heart surgery. The program monitors patients’ daily progress and provides personal support that allows them to recover successfully in their own homes.
Eiran Z. Gorodeski, MD, MPH, an Associate Staff Member in the Section of Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation Medicine in the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Family Department of Cardiovascular Medicine within the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute, co-directs the program with Steven H. Landers, MD, MPH, Director of the Center for Home Care and Community Rehabilitation within the Neurological Institute.
The home-based monitoring technology tracks blood pressure, heart rate, weight, blood oxygen saturation, and other vital signs and symptoms. It transmits data through a patient’s home phone line to a care center staffed by home care nurses, who regularly update physicians on their patients’ progress. The nurses follow up with patients by phone or in person to answer questions and provide support. Heart Care at Home typically lasts 30 to 40 days after discharge.
Program participants need only a traditional land line telephone jack and a grounded three-prong outlet. Cleveland Clinic installs a small telehealth unit manufactured by Phillips, which monitors vital signs wirelessly and transmits data toll-free through the telephone line.
The program is available in 14 counties in Northeast Ohio: Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Portage, Summit, Medina, Lorain, Erie, Huron, Stark, Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana.
To make a gift supporting the Neurological Institute, Heart & Vascular Institute or any area of Cleveland Clinic, visit our secure online giving site, or call Institutional Relations and Development at 216.444.1245 or toll-free at 800.223.2273, ext. 41245.
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