LAREDO MORNING TIMES
`LAnEno, TX
`SUNDAY
`25,470
`FEB 27 2000
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`Tuddy questIOns, watches
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`BY JONATHAN BLACK
`Times staffwriter
`l 7)/U l
`A device no bigger than a large
`!lalarm clock'15 providing a group
`g:of Laredoans with a way to stay
`,:healthier.
`The Health Buddy, a small, .
`'3 dedicated computer,
`is easily
`'5 installed in a patient’s home 0r
`up"
`apartment.
`E Currently, it gives a group of
`if patients with diabetes or conges-
`3 five heart failure the tools they
`5need to help themselves.
`Every day the Health Buddy
`lasks
`patients a series of ques-
`t blood .
`:tions about their weigh,
`‘ pressure, medication and specif-
`’ ic aspects of their conditiOns.
`Every night the Health Buddy
`3. uploads that information to a
`computer
`at Mercy Health
`.
`3 Center.
`,
`'
`The information provides a
`map of the patient’5 general
`health and gives health—care per-
`sonnel warning if the patient
`appears headed for problems.
`' Christine Rodriguez, telemedi—
`cine coordinator at Mercy, said
`the easy access to data made pos-
`sible by the Health Buddy allows
`' outpatients and health care
`, providers to catch problems
`before
`they become serious ‘
`enOugh to require a long and
`costly hospital stay.
`”We’re
`gto catch them
`before they goginto‘crls
`so they
`can see their doctor
`tead of
`having to go into the hospital,”
`Rodriguez said.
`The record kept by the health»
`buddy can also be printed out,
`giving physicians detailed Visual
`' ’keysyto the patient’s changing
`health.
`
`s
`
`Health Center. estab-
`Mercy
`lished its Health Buddy system
`1 as part of a cooperafive project
`with the University of Texas
`.Health Sciences Center - San 3
`Antonio.
`
`toring will mean they havent
`gone
`as
`far
`into
`crisis,”
`Rodriguez said.
`The current phase of the pro-
`gram is scheduled to and April
`2001
`
`At that point, Mercy will decide
`whether or not to continue the
`
`program.
`Rodriguez expectsthe program
`to continue. Since its ception, .
`the Health Buddy has prevented.
`at least three of its 20-pantic‘1pants
`
`I
`
`from needing to be hospitalized.
`”I think it’s working, I really ’3
`do,” she said.
`She also believes the system
`makes the patients feel better
`about themselves,
`”Hopefully it makes a patient
`feel more comfortable knowing
`someone is there watching out
`for them,” Rodriguez said.
`(Stafi’writer Ionathan Black can be
`
`1v
`
`reachedat728—2585ore—mailhimat ‘
`
`jonathun@lmtonline.com)
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`1 I|l
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`;
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`'
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`2
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`Money for the program has
`been provided by a grant from
`Ethe telecommunications infra-
`1. structure fund of the state of
`S;Texas
`3; Health Buddies currently serve
`‘ about 20 Laredoans, mostly from
`the c1ty’s indigent population.
`Indigents often have difi‘icul’cy 1
`
`asking their questions in either ‘
`
`5
`
` 1" accessing health care and there-
`
`Ifore are among those that have
`' the most to gain from the servic-
`es the Health Buddy offers.
`“
`‘ Diabetes and congestive heart 1
`' failure were targeted by the pro-
`glam because they are promi-
`.nent conditions in Laredo and
`can be effectively monitored by .
`the buddysystem.
`pro- '3
`' The Mercy/UTHSC-SA
`gram is the only Health Buddy
`system in Texas.
`It'15 also the only bilingual pro- i
`gram in the nation. The Laredo .
`Health Buddies are capable of 5
`
`;
`
`, Spanish or English.
`‘ Mercy has provided extensive .
`support services to the patients ‘
`Q involved in the program. ‘
`{
`In addition to delivering and
`, installing the health buddy, proj-
`-: ect staff also provide patients
`p. with a tutorial on its use.
`‘ Scales, blood pressure cuffs;
`' and other insmunents to mess-
`-. ure a patient’s condition are also
`.. provided with demonstrations
`. on their use. .
`The Health Buddy system has I
`1 another important benefit — it ‘
`encourages patients to become
`" .more involved in their own
`health
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`

`

`‘ “It makes them more proactive
`about their own health It can
`
`
`
`!help teach patients to better
`manage their own disease,’
`Rodriguez explained
`‘
`By making them an active par-
`i licipant in their own health care,
`.gpatients find themselves more
`aware'and concerned about their
`own health
`If patients forget about entering
`.;
`5:the data, Health Buddy will give ,
`them a friendly reminder. When
`5 Health Buddyhasn’t gotten
`1§ information for the day, it will ,7
`beep at the patients.
`3
`Gwen Loera, planning and
`marketing specialist for Mercy,
`says that Health Buddy not only
`protects life, it protects ”quality
`of life”'
`
`By better managing their condr~
`tions, patients reduce the risk of
`3the debilitating side effects that
`accompany their conditions, she
`said.
`Even when a patient does have
`to be admitted to the hospital,
`‘
`Health Buddy has a role to play,
`\
`Rodriguez added.
`"If they do have to come in to .,
`the hospital, _ hopefully they .
`won’t have to be in as long
`5because Health Buddy’s moni—‘ ,
`
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