McKean County VNA patients as well as senior citizens will come
one step closer to their physician with the help of a federal
grant.

The USDA Rural Development grant for $110,575 will allow the
agency to purchase close to 40 telemedicine monitoring units that
will allow patients to check such things as their blood pressure
and oxygen saturation either at home or at a senior center. This
information will then be sent directly to a VNA nurse for review,
who can then send the data to a doctor.

The VNA, which was one of only two agencies in the state to
receive the grant, will now be able to monitor thousands of
people.

“Our dream has become a reality,” Cheri Sowash said Tuesday
afternoon during a press conference at the VNA headquarters on
School Street. Sowash is the VNA’s clinical supervisor that
oversees the telemedicine program. “We are grateful for this
opportunity to improve access to these state-of-the-art health care
services throughout McKean County.”

Patients that use the equipment range from children to the
elderly with such conditions as congestive heart failure, high
blood pressure and diabetes.

The system is easy to use as the equipment tells the patient
exactly what to do, including when to get on the scale, when to put
on the blood pressure cuff and put on the oxygen saturation sensor.
It also can ask the patient questions such as if he has experienced
breathing difficulties lately.

There is another unit, MedPartner, which can remind a patient
when to take his medicine.

When the patient picks up the medicine at the wrong time, a red
light shines and the unit “voice” tells the patient it is not time.
That unit will be used by a person at their home.

According to VNA Director Kathy Pascarella, the agency applied
for the grant earlier this year with an eye toward increasing the
number of telemedicine units available for use by county
residents.

“We believe that this will improve access to health care and the
quality of care for those in our most rural communities,” she said.
McKean County VNA is the home health department of Bradford
Regional Medical Center.

In addition to home placement, some units will be placed in
senior centers in Bradford, Kane, Smethport, Port Allegany, Mount
Jewett and Eldred.

A card-swipe registration process will be established for each
senior center prior to patients using the system. A VNA staff
member will be on site on a regular basis to provide
assistance.

“These funds give us a way to multiply the successes we have
already had,” Pascarella said, adding, “in home settings, they’re
our eyes and ears; and in settings like senior centers, they’ll be
invaluable home management tools.”

Sowash said the first telemedicine systems were available to the
VNA in October 2002.

“The USDA Rural Development is proud to be a part of rural
people caring for rural people and a small part of the financial
assistance and funding you see today at this presentation,” said
Bob Schoenfeldt, USDA Rural Development area director.

Schoenfeldt said the application process was very selective with
227 applicants, and only 79 getting funding. Of those, 35 provide
funding for medical service improvements.

“We are thrilled with the possibilities that this holds for the
agency and for continuing the mission of Bradford Regional to
improve the health of our community,” Deborah Price, senior vice
president of patient care services at BRMC, said.

“This is technology that 10 years ago we didn’t think existed,”
Price said. “The benefits for community members who visit their
senior centers in terms of preventative care and our continued
abilities to monitor patients in the home settings expands our
range of services and quality of care to the communities we
serve.”

Price also reminded the audience that collaboration was a big
part of the hospital’s annual meeting a few weeks ago. Again,
without collaboration on this project, it never would have been
possible, she said.

“All our patients are our number one focus,” she said. “Giving
the very best care to patients.”

That point was not missed by federal officials.

“We are all aware of issues facing the health care system,
especially in a rural area,” Schoenfeldt said, noting that many
people are either uninsured or underinsured.

He added one of the biggest challenges is to keep the technology
up-to-date which sometimes results in “creative financing.”

“It’s people caring for people,” he said.

Each telemedicine monitor unit costs about $3,250 a piece; the
medicine unit costs $750. All information is transferred through
phone lines.

At the VNA, a nurse can look at the numbers – those that are
high are highlighted in red. They can then fax the numbers to the
doctor or make a graph, using the numbers over a certain time
frame, and send to the doctor.