They then enter vital signs and symptoms into their personal Web site every day. The information is monitored by a nurse, who notifies the patient's physician if any changes are noted. The information flows both ways. Patients not only use the Web to enter daily vital signs such as systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, weight and symptom information, but they also receive coaching, medication reminders and encouragement electronically. Educational information, news stories and interaction with other CHF patients are also provided through the Web connection.
All interactions require password approvals and data are stored on a server at a secure location.
Managing chronic diseases such as CHF is an increasingly costly business in North America. Traditional techniques demand constant and ongoing contact with the health care system, either through regular visits to the family doctor or home-care visits by a nurse, and this adds to the cost. Preliminary results from the year-long study have not been released, but a similar study that employed telephone technology yielded impressive results. In that study, patients made daily phone calls to a computerized voice-mail system. As with the Internet system, patients entered their systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, weight and symptom information using a touch-tone keypad.