Current issues related to home monitoring

Physiologic monitoring is no longer confined to the critical care unit. Home monitors connect patients with clinics, physician offices, disease management programs, and home care agencies for the purpose of streamlining care delivery, maintaining a close patient connection, and promoting early identification of patient status changes. The advent of telehealth technologies offers a wide range of options for home monitoring. The goal of home monitoring is to promote patient comfort and avoid disruption of daily activities. To accomplish this, however, nurses must address issues such as, technology compatibility with patient capabilities, compatibility with nurses' practice beliefs, cost of home monitoring of overall care, and the physiologic parameters that will measure early decompensation.