Reducing the burden on heart failure patients and hospitals with home telemonitoring

Abstract

With the increasing incidence and prevalence of heart failure in the United States, the burden imposed on both the patients and healthcare system is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. In 2009, the American Heart Association estimated that there were 15 million office visits and 6.5 million days spent in the hospital due to heart failure. Complex regimens requiring lifestyle alterations make it difficult for patients to adhere to provider recommendations. In an attempt to decrease this burden, the effects of home telemonitoring have been under investigation. An integrated review of the literature was conducted to summarize findings from studies investigating whether home telemonitoring increases patient adherence to prescribed therapy while reducing hospital admissions and readmissions. The search included relevant studies from 2005 to 201 0. A total of eleven studies were reviewed in this thesis. Statistically significant improvements were found in four of the five articles regarding patient adherence. Two of the articles reporting on hospital admissions indicated statistically significant reductions. while the others showed a trend towards a reduction in hospitalizations. Statistically significant decreases were found in hospital readmissions in three of five studies. While the evidence was not strong enough to support broad-scale implementation, telemonitoring can be recommended as a viable adjunct to usual care for some patients. Nurses should be at the forefront for providing patient education and assessing data provided by telemonitoring equipment. Large-scale. replicable studies are recommended to further determine the effectiveness of telemonitoring related to outcomes of heart failure patients.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

2010

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Ark, Pamela

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.)

College

College of Nursing

Degree Program

Nursing

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Nursing;Nursing -- Dissertations, Academic

Format

Print

Identifier

DP0022571

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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