Experts in Home Health Management, Inc.’s “Nurse in a Box” can help homebound patients with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), Diabetes, Hypertension, and Asthma better manage their medical conditions and avoid hospitalizations.

The “Nurse in a Box”, otherwise known as tele-health monitoring, is a tabletop device which, with a doctor’s order, can be placed in the homes of patients who tend to have long term, unstable medical conditions resulting in frequent hospital or E.R. visits.

The “Nurse in a Box” program provides patients; their loved ones; and the medical care team with the reassurance of knowing their condition is being closely monitored during times of instability. Another benefit is that it helps patients learn to manage their medical conditions.

Disease symptoms are often aggravated by diet and other habits, which patients are sometime unaware can trigger a severe reaction. The “Nurse in a Box” program can provide teachable moments that allow patients to discover a cause and effect relationship between a particular behavior and an exacerbation of symptoms. The patient then is empowered with information that allows them to make future choices which ultimately can result in better management of their chronic medical condition.

The machine, which is hooked to a telephone line, is equipped with attachments that measure the patient’s weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, and oxygen levels at the same time each day. Additionally, the machine is programmed, by a clinical nurse, with a series of “yes” or “no” questions tailored to each patient’s specific medical condition.

The responses to the questions along with the vital sign measurements are transmitted to a skilled nurse at the home health care agency each day. If any of the readings or responses to the questions are out of the normal range for the patient, a call to the patient and/ or the physician will allow for immediate interventions which ideally will help patients avoid the trauma of a 911 situation.