BIDDEFORD — Every morning for the past month, Laurent Geoffrey wakes up, steps on the scale to measure his weight, takes his blood pressure and measures his pulse.

These measurements are taken using a special monitor that transmits the results via telephone line to the medical office of SMMC Visiting Nurses.

There, nurse Jan Prewitt-Small reviews the data noting whether there is any fluctuation in Geoffrey’s numbers.

If there are concerns she can call Geoffrey, who is recuperating from heart bypass surgery, immediately to see if there is a change in his condition that requires follow-up by a nurse or doctor.

Geoffrey is one of about 20 patients who are participating in SMMC Visiting Nurses’ telehealth program.

The program allows patients who are suffering from a chronic diseases like congestive heart failure or chronic lung disease to stay home while their condition is monitored remotely by medical professionals.

“I find it so practical,” said Geoffrey. “I find it so easy to read, easy to use.”

The measuring devices for things like weight or blood pressure are hooked into the unit. As a patient uses the telehealth monitor, the unit provides step-by-step written and verbal instructions.

Results are automatically sent to the SMMC Visiting Nurses office.

The monitoring system, said Geoffrey, gives him a feeling of security.

If he has a question or health problem, he can ask it via the monitoring system and have an answer in just a few minutes.

“It’s much faster than to try to get to a doctor,” said Geoffrey.

The telehealth program is not only convenient for patients, it’s also helpful to medical practitioners because it allows them to monitor patients daily and respond immediately to changes in weight or blood pressure, said SMMC Visiting Nurses Director Elaine Brady.

“You’re right on top of the problem before it develops,” she said.

The program seems to have proven its effectiveness. A study of 77 patients over one year showed that those using the monitoring system were 50 percent less likely to be readmitted to a hospital for their condition than those not using the telehealth units, said Brady.

The program started with one unit in 2007, and is set to grow thanks to a recent grant from insurance provider Universal American.

On Friday, Robert Downs, the general manager and vice president of the insurance company’s Maine office, handed over a $40,000 grant that will allow SMMC Visiting Nurses to purchase more telehealth monitoring units.

Each unit costs $5,000 and is not covered by insurance.

SMMC Visiting Nurses picks up the tab as part of the services they provide.

Universal American decided to fund the program, said Downs ”“ its first grantee in southern Maine ”“ because it provides a low-cost way to keep people from going in and out of hospitals and doctor’s offices.

Lowering medical costs by methods that allow people to stay home yet still have their medical needs taken care of is the type of health reform that should be invested in, said Downs.

The grant will not only enable SMMC Visiting Nurses to purchase more units, said Brady, it will also allow the organization to look into setting up a similar wireless system.

One of the barriers to the program, she said, is that many people use wireless or cable services for telephone service. The telehealth monitoring system used by SMMC Visiting Nurses requires connection to a land line telephone.

Brady said these types of remote monitoring systems are especially useful in remote parts of the state where there is less access to medical care.

Technological advances that allow patients and physicians to better monitor medical conditions are the wave of the future, said Brady.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.