Apparatus and method for monitoring and communicating wellness parameters of ambulatory patients

A computer-implemented method of detecting impending need for rehospitalization of a patient for chronic heart failure in the patient, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a remote computer via a communication network, data measured by a cardiac rhythm management device implanted in the patient, the remote computer remote from the patient;
• receiving, by the remote computer via the communication network, answers to a plurality of questions posed by a home monitoring apparatus, each of the questions representative of a symptom in a plurality of symptoms associated with chronic heart failure, each of the answers assigned to a score representing a severity of a symptom in the plurality of symptoms;
• calculating, by the remote computer, a total of the scores assigned to the answers;
• detecting, by the remote computer, an impending need for rehospitalization of the patient for chronic heart failure, based at least in part on whether the total exceeds a threshold and based at least in part on the data received from the cardiac rhythm management device;
• and
• in response to detecting the impending need for rehospitalization of the patient for chronic heart failure, alerting, by the remote computer, a medical professional caregiver regarding the impending need for rehospitalization of the patient for chronic heart failure.

A computer-implemented method of detecting impending need for rehospitalization of a patient for chronic heart failure in the patient, the method comprising:

• receiving, with a remote computer external to the patient via a communication network, data measured by a cardiac rhythm management device implanted in the patient, the remote computer remote from the patient;
• receiving, by the remote computer via the communication network, a physiological parameter of the patient measured by a home monitoring apparatus;
• receiving, with the remote computer, answers to a plurality of questions posed to the patient by the home monitoring apparatus, each of the questions representative of a symptom in a plurality of symptoms associated with chronic heart failure, the each of the answers assigned a score representing a severity of a symptom in the plurality of symptoms;
• calculating, by the remote computer, a total of the scores assigned to the answers;
• detecting, with the remote computer, an impending need for rehospitalization of the patient for chronic heart failure, based at least in part upon whether the total exceeds a threshold, based at least in part on the data measured by the cardiac rhythm management device, and based at least in part on the physiological parameter;
• and
• in response to detecting the impending need for rehospitalization of the patient for chronic heart failure, alerting, by the remote computer, a medical professional caregiver regarding the impending need for rehospitalization of the patient for chronic heart failure.