Exploring Feasibility of Home Telemanagement in African Americans with Congestive Heart Failure

Existing telemonitoring systems provide limited support in implementing personalized treatment plans. We developed a Home Automated Telemanagement (HAT) system for patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) to provide support in following individualized treatment plans as well as to monitor symptoms, weight changes, and quality of life, while educating the patient on their disease. The system is designed to be placed in the patient's home and to communicate all patient data to a central server implementing real-time clinical decision support. The system questions the patient daily on their condition, monitors their weight, and provides the patient with instant feedback on their condition in the form of a 3-zone CHF action plan. Their medication regimen and suggested actions are determined by their care management team and integrated into the system, keeping a personalized approach to disease management while taking advantage of the technology available. The system is designed to be as simple as possible, making it usable by patients with no prior computer experience. A feasibility assessment in African American patients with CHF and without prior computer experience demonstrated high level of acceptance of the CHF HAT system.