A little over a month ago, Harry Sheid had heart surgery at Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown. His condition is stabalized, but he needs his vital signs checked every day. 

Thanks to "At Home Care Incorporated", Harry doesn't even have to leave his house in Little Falls for his daily checkup. A special machine transmits the information over the phone to a nurse in a clinic 60 miles away through a technology dubbed telehealth.

Harry says, “I get up in the morning, check my sugar, then get on the scale and weigh myself. If they don't like something, they call you right up.” Harry adds, “It’s a lot better for me because of the getting around, because I use a walker.”

Telehealth has proven invaluable in rural areas where the distance between home and the hospital can be a challenge for patients. In fact, At Home Care’s executive director Laurie Neander says, “The daily monitoring telehealth provides has reduced rehospitalization rates. Particularly for individuals who can't leave home easily, to receive medical care on a daily basis, the value is tremendous and the outcomes were' seeing, the results are compelling.”