Walz visits Windom

• Walz

Rep. Tim Walz (left) speaks with Sogge Memorial Good Samaritan Society resident Doris Holmen and Technology Case Manager Jen Boll during a tour Friday of the home health care monitoring technology available on the campus.

Talk about it

WINDOM — Doris Holmen sat in her chair and followed instructions as the Telehealth unit asked her to attach an oxymeter to her finger to check her blood oxygen level. She had already stood on the nearby scale when prompted to do so, then slipped on the attached blood pressure cuff and allowed the machine to record her vital measurements.

“This would have been an office visit and a billing,” said US. Rep. Tim Walz, who was kneeling on the floor in front of Holmen and watching the process.

With permission from Holmen, Walz and several others toured her apartment at Remick Ridge Estates, an independent living facility on the Good Samaritan campus. Jen Boll, the technology case manager at Windom’s Good Samaritan, pointed out sensors, a strip in the bed that measures respiration and movement, and explained how an intercom could be used if a problem was indicated.

“The technology is completely passive,” Boll stated. “(Holmen) does nothing but live her normal routine.”

Walz stopped in Windom Friday morning to see first-hand how seniors at Sogge Memorial Good Samaritan Society are using health care technology to stay independent longer. He was touting legislation, the Fostering Independence Through Technology (FITT) Act.

Walz said FITT would create pilot programs within the Department of Health and Human Services for home health care agencies to use home monitoring and communications technology to care for patients in their own homes.

“How do we ensure that seniors are getting the best health care we can give them?” he asked as he stood in a public room at Good Samaritan surrounded by health care staff. “We need to look for more ways to deliver high-quality, low-cost care.”

Reform, he said, was not about insurance companies, but about figuring out new and better ways to deliver health care at an affordable price.

“If all we do is reform the insurance side of things, it’s not going to work,” he added.

He flashed the small group of people a smile.

“It’s nice to talk health care without being yelled at,” he quipped.

Boll booted up a laptop computer and showed Walz how sensor technology and Telehealth are being used to monitor the daily vital statistics of some seniors, as well as respiration, movement and more.

Walz asked a variety of questions as he watched the computer screen, displaying knowledge of the subject at hand and a curiosity about the particular set-up at Good Samaritan.

“In your expert opinion, how efficient is it?” he asked. “How accurate?”

Boll said the systems, wellAware and Telehealth, were very accurate and efficient.

Good Samaritan Regional Director Tom Syverson pointed out that the focus of the technology was on prevention.

There are not cameras in the apartments, but information gathered from sensors can tell providers a lot about the health condition of the clients, Boll and Syverson explained. Excess bathroom usage could indicate a urinary tract infection, sleeplessness could mask a variety of health issues and changes in weight could be a precursor to congestive heart failure or other problems.

Real-time sensors can provide immediate alarms and responses, Boll explained. A sensor on the floor can pick up a possible fall, one by the stove can show if a burner was left on.

“What are the barriers?” Walz asked.

“Education,” Syverson replied, adding that today’s seniors come from an independent generation and tend to put off medical care unless they feel it is absolutely necessary.

Benefits, he continued, include a reduction in emergency room and doctor visits, and keeping seniors in their homes longer.

According to a PowerPoint presentation from Boll, the sensor technology and the Telehealth unit are both services used to compliment existing nurse care, not replace hands-on care. The services are currently covered by some insurances and counties, but not under Medicare.

Both require that data be gathered and assessed for a short period so parameters can be formed. Variations in the data can then indicate changes in chronic health conditions or acute problems, but the data in and of itself is not useful unless it is properly assessed.

Tags: state and region, tim walz, healthcare reform, news, walz, windom, healthcare