Winneshiek County Public Health is pleased to announce the newest addition to our skilled nursing services with the in home telemonitoring systems. Our agency has been placing the monitors in some of our client’s homes since September of 2006. The HomMed monitor system is hospital grade quality, it consists of a small compact monitor, a blood pressure cuff, a finger probe and a scale. If the client has difficulty with balance, the monitor can be used without the scale or the scale can be used only when the nurse or a family member is present to assist them to get on and off the scale.

Our trained nurses will deliver and install the monitor system with easy to follow instructions.
The monitor will be programmed to start as a specific time every day. It is possible to activate the monitor up to four times a day if needed; the activation times are flexible and scheduled to meet client need and preference. The monitor will automatically turn on, much like an alarm clock. The monitor will use a voice to prompt the client step by step to checking their vital signs and will ask the client a few simple questions that have been customized to meet their specific needs.
With a push of a button the client will send their vital signs to our office. The nurse
will monitor their blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen level and weight. Our nurses check
the monitors daily, including week ends and holidays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The nurse will call the client and make a home visit if needed.

HomMed monitors enable the nurse and physician to monitor changes in client status while adjusting medication and treatment of disease process. The telemonitoring system provides our agency the ability to keep the physician updated by sending them monitor print outs of the client’s vital signs and weights with graphs and tabular trends. This allows early detection and intervention to decrease emergency room visits and hospitalizations with continuity of care.

Our goal is to empower our clients and families to be active in their health care while providing them with feelings of security and to promote safety.

The Honeywell HomMed Monitor System is available to clients who meet guideline criteria. The telemonitoring system is not an emergency alert device.