The effect of telemonitoring at home on quality of life and self-care behaviors of patients with heart failure.

Heart failure (HF) is a costly chronic disease that affects 5.7 million people in the United States. Home healthcare agencies are implementing initiatives to reduce hospitalizations and manage HF patients at home. In this study, telemonitoring improved patients' perception of their quality of life and assisted them to sustain critical self-care behaviors. Patients who were monitored had fewer hospitalizations but telemonitoring was not statistically significant in lowering hospitalizations.