Telehealth Monitor

Floyd Perdue has a buddy.

A Health Buddy that is.

Perdue, who suffers from a chronic lung disease and congestive heart failure, used to make numerous trips to the hospital or doctor’s office for a checkup or to have his vital signs monitored. But ever since his Health Buddy moved into his Jeffersonville home, those trips are no longer necessary.

Perdue’s buddy takes all of his vital signs each day and asks important questions concerning his health issues.

“I love it; it has kept me out of the hospital,” he said. “If something is wrong, they will call me right back.”

The Health Buddy is a small box which sits on Perdue’s kitchen table. The push-button telemedicine device plugs into a telephone jack and sends all his information to Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services.

via The News and Tribune – Floyd Memorial Hospital Health Buddy provides medical care through telemedicine in Southern Indiana.

Veterans with chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure can be monitored at home using special telehealth technologies provided to them by the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston.

The Health Buddy is a simple piece of equipment similar to an answering machine that can be placed anywhere in a veteran’s home where there is a power outlet and a working telephone jack. It is friendly, convenient and easy to use.

Specific questions about the veteran and his or her illness are programmed into the Health Buddy. The veteran simply answers the questions each day. Information obtained such as blood pressure and blood glucose, along with other patient information, allows a care coordinator to anticipate and prevent avoidable problems. Coordinators monitor the information daily and contact the patient for any medication adjustments or schedule any appointments necessary to keep the veteran as healthy as possible.

The Health Buddy does not replace routine medical appointments; it simply enhances primary care. The new technology has become increasingly popular with veterans because it provides greater access to medical care. Veterans take a more active role in their wellbeing and have peace of mind knowing their health care providers have up-to-date information. They know someone is looking out for their welfare.

via ‘Health Buddy’ helps vets live a healthier lifestyle > Conroe Courier > News Archives > Houston Community Newspapers Online – News Around Town.

Recent testing with telehealth by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have proven successful, representing a significant breakthrough for the technology.

CMS’s 2005 Care Management for High Cost Beneficiaries Demonstration (CMHCB) program, incorporated telehealth services, such as the remote monitoring of chronic conditions and patient education, into the treatment plans for its highest-cost beneficiaries.  One program participant was the Health Buddy system.  This system was created by the Health Hero Network as a way of remotely connecting patients, providers, and health care facilities through the use of monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, and online decision support tools.

CMS officials noted that the Health Buddy system and others had been extremely effective both in reducing expenditures and providing continuously high-quality care to high cost Medicare beneficiaries.  “The programs in the demonstration have had a positive impact…and have met and/or exceeded the savings target required in the demonstration agreement,” CMS officials said in a statement.  Additionally, they announced that they will be granting the Health Hero Network demonstration a three-year extension.  In doing so, the Health Buddy system and other programs “would have the opportunity to continue to impact their populations, maximize savings and assist CMS in determining the replicability of the programs.”

Another recent triumph for the technology was the VA’s Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT) Program.  Researchers who monitored a test group of patients daily through telehealth reported that there were 20 percent fewer hospitalizations, as well as an overall improvement in health conditions.  The program, which cost a comparatively low $1,600 per patient per year, was so successful that VA officials plan on expanding it significantly, estimating that by 2011, more than 50,000 patients will be monitored via telehealth.

The demonstrated success of the VA and CMS programs represent a significant step forward for telehealth, as well as hope for thousands of chronically ill patients.  As VA researchers noted, “If 50 percent of patients requiring (non-institutional care) can ultimately be managed in a way that means they get improved access to care at lower cost and higher quality, then this represents an important advance.  It means that a low cost and flexible solution will be available to deal with the large numbers of patients with chronic care conditions that health care systems know they need to serve.”

via For the CMS and the VA, Telehealth Programs are a Clear Success.