July 2024

Labs and Regular Appointments

"You are watching my blood pressure, why do I need an appointment?" This is a great question. Regular follow ups with Dr. Munjal are still important because, not only does he take care of your blood pressure, he also tries to manage your kidney health. Getting a clear picture of your health requires a combination of monitoring, labs, and appointments.

Why are Labs Important?

Lab tests measure internal changes that do not always have immediate symptoms. Completing lab tests regularly provides a greater chance to try to intervene or help guide life style changes before serious problems occur. The labs that Dr. Munjal orders most often measures a number of different things which include:

-Electrolyte Levels (Sodium, Potassium, etc.)

- Creatinine (a waste product filtered by the kidneys)

-eGFR (an estimation of how well your kidneys are functioning)

Monitoring vs Appointments

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is a great way to connect with your care team between regularly scheduled appointments. Your patient care coordinator will monitor your vital readings sent in through HumHealth and work with you and Dr. Munjal to make adjustments as necessary. Monitoring programs, like ours, typically only focus on one aspect of your care. Stabilizing and ‘fine tuning’ your blood pressure readings and regiment appropriately can help with your overall kidney health.

Regular appointments are still necessary as there are a number of other factors and events that can contribute to changes in your health over time. At appointments, Dr. Munjal provides a more comprehensive check-in to explain lab results, any pertinent changes in diagnosis and health status, and if there are other conditions or concerns to discuss.

RPM fine-tunes whereas appointments provide a view of the big picture of your overall health.

Movement Resources

Websites and Videos

Listed below are trusted websites, like the National Kidney Foundation and Mayo Clinic, to help provide additional information.

What is a CMP?

What is a Nephrologist?

Blog Posts

The Bean provides a variety of resources about all things kidney related.

Remote Patient Monitoring

Introduction to Electrolytes

The 'Why' Behind the Labs

Local Events

Find a local event to attend to get some gentle exercise without feeling like exercising.

MOSH: Ice Dinosaur Exhibit

Exalted Shores: Gallery Tour

Dog Days of Summer

How the HumHealth App Helps

Reviewing and Entering Readings

You may have noticed that your app looks a little different lately. This is due to some updates that have made the software more user friendly. The app still tracks all of the same information and functions the same, however some things have moved to new locations.

To enter readings:

For 4G devices, continue to utilize your devices as normal
For Bluetooth devices, open your app and locate the type of reading you would like to take
- Click on the purple "Measure" button
- Take a reading as normal

Open your app and locate the type of reading you would like to review
Click anywhere in the white portion of the desired box
The new screen allows you to view your readings in a graph as well as list format
To enter a manual reading, locate the "+" in the upper right hand corner
Enter the requested values and any notes you wish to make
Locate and press "Save" in the upper right hand corner

To review or enter manual readings:

Download in the Apple App Store

Download in the Google Play Store