If you’ve been diagnosed with a condition or are recovering from one, your health parameters need continuous monitoring. Telemetry monitoring is a method used to track your heart health when you’re in the hospital. It helps observe your heart rhythms over a long period to identify any problems. It also helps monitor your recovery and check whether your medications are working.
What Is Telemetry? What Is Telemetry Monitoring?
Telemetry monitoring is a technique that enables continuous tracking of your heartbeat. It measures the electrical activity of your heart. Doctors use telemetry systems to check for abnormal patterns that indicate serious heart problems.
Healthcare providers closely observe your heart rhythms using a portable telemetry system. It is attached to your body using electrodes, which transmit your vital data to a central monitor for analysis. This allows you to move about without being restricted by a bedside heart monitor.
Doctors typically use telemetry monitoring if you’ve been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia). It is also used if you’re simply at risk of arrhythmia or sudden heart problems. It allows doctors to take swift action and modify your treatment.
How Does Telemetry Work?
Doctors admit people with heart problems or the risk of arrhythmia to a cardiac telemetry unit. It is similar to other hospital rooms, but it is equipped with the tools to measure heart-related vital signs such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen levels.
A healthcare professional will shave and clean the skin at five specific places around your chest and stomach. Using sticky pads, they attach electrodes to the cleaned areas to capture your heartbeat. The wires transmit your vital data in the form of electric signals to the recording device. The device converts the electric signal into visual data on a monitor or screen, allowing your doctor to view and track your heart rhythms.
The telemetry recording device can be placed in a cloth holder that you can wear throughout the day. Your doctor will let you know how long you’ll need telemetry monitoring. Avoid removing the device unless advised by your doctor. As long as you stay connected to the telemetry system, the monitor displays your heartbeat.
Trained doctors and nurses watch the monitor for over 24 hours to collect valuable data about your heart. The telemetry system is programmed with an alarm that will sound if there are any significant changes in your heartbeat. This helps your healthcare provider detect sudden heart problems and quickly plan the best treatment for you.
What Are Telemetry Uses?
Telemetry monitoring is mainly used to track heart rhythms. Your doctor may use it if you have irregular heartbeats and complaints of chest pain or dizziness due to heart problems. They recommend telemetry monitoring if you’re recovering from a heart attack or stroke or have had a recent heart procedure.
Telemetry uses are not limited to heart problems, though. Doctors may use this technology to monitor your health if you have blood clots, lung problems like pneumonia, or other severe illnesses. They may also use it after giving you anesthesia or other medications that may affect your heart rhythm.
What Are the Benefits of Telemetry Monitoring?
Telemetry monitoring provides you and your healthcare provider with several benefits. They include:
1. Early detection and prevention of heart problems. Arrhythmia makes your heart beat rapidly or irregularly. If it is not detected and treated immediately, it can cause sudden heart failure or stroke.
Telemetry monitoring allows you to detect arrhythmia and other potential heart problems early on. This includes serious heart conditions like myocardial infarction (i.e., a heart attack), enabling early intervention.
2. Easy monitoring. Telemetry systems have inbuilt alarms that notify doctors and nurses in case of sudden or unusual signal changes. This permits easy tracking of your heart health without constant supervision. It also lets healthcare professionals focus on other medical duties while they continue monitoring your health.
3. Cost-effectiveness. Telemetry systems help both you and your healthcare provider save money. Telemetry monitoring doesn’t require extra staff, which is cost-effective for a healthcare facility. It also allows nursing staff to pay more attention to patients who need immediate care.
Telemetry monitoring helps prevent serious conditions and saves long-term medical costs. If your doctor says you’re healthy, you can go home and avoid unnecessary hospital stay expenses.
4. Unrestricted movement. Unlike bedside heart monitors that restrict your movement, telemetry systems are portable. You can wear a telemetry device using a cloth holder, which allows you to move about. Still, you must be careful because too much movement can affect your heart rate.
5. Detection of pain and discomfort. Telemetry monitoring informs healthcare providers if you’re experiencing serious pain or discomfort. When in pain, your body sends signals to your nervous system, which stimulates your heart rate. If you’re connected to a telemetry system, it will detect a sudden or sustained increase in your heart rate, indicating a sign of distress. It may trigger an alarm and prompt the medical staff to rush to assist you.
This is especially helpful in the cases of people who are seriously ill, don’t have the strength to call for help, or are in a coma.
6. Peace of mind. If you’re at risk of heart problems, you may feel scared or overwhelmed. While you are at the hospital, telemetry monitoring can offer you safety and peace of mind, as your health is constantly tracked by your healthcare team.
Other Considerations
Telemetry monitoring helps save lives through continuous tracking. However, the American Heart Association recommends telemetry monitoring only for those with sudden or acute heart problems or those at greater risk.
Telemetry only helps detect heart problems; it doesn’t fix them. Additionally, it helps check your heart rhythms but not your blood pressure.
While you are being monitored, don’t be afraid if your telemetry monitoring device sounds an alarm. That may happen if the device’s battery runs low or an electrode gets disconnected. It can also beep if the wires keep moving while you walk or brush your teeth.
Bear in mind that the accuracy of your telemetry data depends on how your healthcare provider places the electrodes, maintains the telemetry system, and monitors and analyzes your data.
