MONITORING DEVICE OFFERS PEACE OF MIND.

Byline: ERIC LEACH

Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY -- At 80 years old, Rudy Allegro embraces technology, including his computer and iPod -- and a device on a table near the kitchen that routinely checks his blood pressure, weight and blood oxygen level.

In fact, Allegro was the first patient at Simi Valley Hospital to use the Viterion 100 Telehealth Monitor after he had open-heart bypass surgery in June.

"I like to be technologically up to date," said Allegro, sitting next to the monitor that looks something like a telephone answering machine with an attachment to the blood pressure cuff and the scales.

"This is great. It is easy to operate, simple to use. It definitely makes me feel more secure."

The Telehealth Monitor is a two-way system that puts Allegro's information on the Internet, where his doctor can check it.

Hospital officials said the device represents a revolutionary new way to monitor the status of their patients.

"We now have the capability to quickly respond to significant changes in their health without them having to contact us," said Susan Myers, director of Adventist Health/Home Care Services of Simi Valley. "This equipment monitors everything specific to someone who has cardiac issues."

"Physicians are able to adjust medications, and it allows the patient to stay at home safely," she said. "This is a tool that really helps patients maintain their quality of life and stay at home. The goal is to eliminate an unnecessary rehospitalization."

Hypothetically, if the monitor was used by a patient with congestive heart failure, it might show a weight gain caused by dangerous fluid retention, so a nurse would be dispatched to the patient's home and the physician notified, she said.

Allegro was once an amateur boxer in New York, served in the Marine Corps and is retired from a career as an air-conditioning installer. He and his wife, Jo, have been married 59 years.

He said she now has dementia, and his No. 1 goal in life and main reason for getting well is to take care of her.

"The most important thing is to take care of my wife," he said.

The at-home health-monitoring device allows him to stay home rather than going back and forth to the hospital for checkups.

"You either do this or go to the hospital, and they are going to do the same thing there," he said. "I am gaining strength. I feel a lot better. It's been amazing."

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Photo:

(color) Rudy Allegro, who underwent an open-heart bypass operation uses the Viterion 100 TeleHealth Monitor to track his blood pressure, blood oxygen, temperature, weight and other measurements while at home in Simi Valley.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer