brown2020

NEWS RELEASE: Health Hero Network Says Recent Successes of Deployments with Medicare, VA Signal New Era of Telehealth. Successful Multi-Year Trials at VA, Medicare Show Telehealth-based Health Care Interventions Can Improve Care, Reduce Costs.

PALO ALTO Ca., January 23, 2009 Health Hero Network said today that the first large-scale, multi-year rollouts and evaluations of its Health Buddy® System have shown success in helping improve the care of high-cost Medicare beneficiaries and veterans while reducing costs and hospitalizations — signaling a new era of telehealth that will reshape an American healthcare landscape strained by an aging population, a reduction in caregivers and shrinking financial resources.

VA Results reported in TELEMEDICINE and e-HEALTH, VOL. 14 NO. 10. Care Coordination/Home Telehealth: The Systematic Implementation of Health Informatics, Home Telehealth, and Disease Management to Support the Care of Veteran Patients with Chronic Conditions. Adam Darkins, M.D., Patricia Ryan, R.N., M.S., Rita Kobb, M.N., A.P.R.N., Linda Foster, M.S.N., R.N., Ellen Edmonson, R.N., M.P.H., Bonnie Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., and Anne E. Lancaster, B.Sc. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Care Coordination Services, Washington, D.C.

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Abu Dhabi is set in the heart of the Persian Gulf and home to 10% of the world’s oil reserves. An unlikely place for a leading international summit on renewable energy and clean technology? On the contrary. Inspired by the environmentalist passion of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, the leadership of Abu Dhabi has defined the emirate’s legacy as becoming a center of renewable energy and cleantech innovation.

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, at WFES

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, opened the summit by describing the vision and rationale for Abu Dhabi’s plan to invest $15 billion to build a carbon neutral future energy city from the ground up in the desert of Abu Dhabi. Masdar has already attracted the leading innovators in cleantech, not only for energy supply from the sun and wind, but also for smarter consumption: smart utility grid and metering, transportation and water systems, energy efficiency and consumer education.

More than just an early cleantech customer, Masdar seeks to become a development and innovation center for future energy, green technology, and sustainability, reversing the brain drain from the Middle East and becoming a magnet for the brightest minds in the field. To help do this they have partnered with Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create a Masdar Institute of Technology.

Dr. Jaber cited the undeniable momentum in renewable energy: America will invest $150 billion in future energy over the next 10 years. Europe has committed to carbon reduction targets for its members. Not only will Abu Dhabi invest billions in cleantech, Abu Dhabi also has committed to an energy plan that calls for 7% of the emirate’s energy to come from renewables by 2020, creating a $6 billion to $8 billion market.

“Our progress is irreversible,” said Dr. Jaber, and Masdar intends to be at the forefront across the complete value chain of renewables, helping Abu Dhabi maintain its position as a leading energy supplier to the world. Dr. Jaber stated the reasons clearly: “Because we can, and because we should. This is still true, despite the economic downturn. We still can and we still should.” Dr. Jaber concluded, “If you invest in cleantech, the first place to visit is Abu Dhabi and the first organization you should talk to should be Masdar.”

News Release: Medicare Extends Demonstration to Improve Care of High Cost Patients and Create Savings

Health Buddy Telemonitoring Device

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted three-year extensions, subject to certain conditions, for three participants in the Care Management for High Cost Beneficiaries Demonstration (CMHCB) that have demonstrated success in helping to manage the care for high cost patients.

“We have been striving for years to find ways to improve the quality of care for Medicare patients through greater coordination in a way that would also save money for Medicare,” said CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems.

“The success of these three partners shows us that better coordination and the introduction of information technology can improve a Medicare beneficiaries understanding of their condition and their ability to follow medical advice,” Weems said. “These programs are showing us yet another way to develop programs that will improve communication between health care providers and their patients, eliminate duplicative and unnecessary care, and improve overall quality.”

Care management for high cost beneficiaries is a provider-based service to improve quality of care and reduce costs for fee-for-service beneficiaries who have one or more chronic diseases. The services support collaboration among participants’ primary and specialist providers to enhance communication of relevant clinical information. They are intended to help increase adherence to evidence-based care, reduce unnecessary hospital stays and emergency room visits, and help participants avoid costly and debilitating complications.

The extensions were awarded to Key to Better Health, a division of Village Health; Massachusetts General Care Management Program; and Health Hero Network, Health Buddy Project.

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News Release: The Knot Inc. Announces Acquisition of Breastfeeding.com

The Knot Inc. (NASDAQ: KNOT) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Breastfeeding.com (www.breastfeeding.com), the number-one website dedicated to providing advice on breastfeeding—one of first-time mothers’ biggest challenges. The addition of Breastfeeding.com further enhances The Knot Inc.’s already robust pregnancy and first-time parenting offerings, which include TheBump.com and LilaGuide.com.

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News Release: Agile Sports’ HUDL Changes the Way Athletes Study the Game. Watch the Video at http://HUDL.com

Lincoln, Neb. – After piloting its Hudl coaching system with over 150 coaches and hundreds of athletes in Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas, Agile Sports is officially launching the video editing and analysis software nationwide this Sunday at the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Convention in Nashville, Tenn.

Hudl was developed by taking Agile Sports’ Hudl Pro software, which is used by the University of Nebraska Husker football team and the New York Jets, and transforming it into a lighter-weight, web-based system that is made to work with every sport and fit in the budget of even small high schools.

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News Release: Robert Bosch North America, Healthways announce availability of single license for joint patent portfolios

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. and NASHVILLE, Tenn. – January 06, 2009 Robert Bosch North America, Inc. (RBNA) and Healthways Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY) today announced the immediate availability of a single patent license under their joint patent portfolios related to remote health monitoring, automated diagnostics and health and disease management.

Both companies collectively hold extensive catalogs of patents in the U.S. and other countries in the area of remote health monitoring, automated diagnostics and disease management. The combined portfolio will give licensees the right to practice over 105 U.S. patents, 154 U.S. patent applications and 78 corresponding non-U.S patents.

The joint licensing program announced today will be managed by Health Hero Network, a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch North America. Health Hero Network will be able to offer licensees a single license that, depending on the needs of the licensee, may include patents owned by Healthways and Health Hero Network. A licensee may elect to take a license from Health Hero Network under the Healthways patents – alone or in combination with the Health Hero Network patents.

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News Release: VA Data Show Home Health Technology Improves Access to Care. VA Secretary Peake: Entire Health Care System More Effective

WASHINGTON – Veterans with chronic conditions can manage their health and avoid hospitalization by using special technology provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in their homes, according to a recent study.

VA Home Telehealth from http://www.carecoordination.va.gov/telehealth/ccht/

“The study showed that home telehealth makes health care more effective because it improves patients’ access to care and is easy to use,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. “A real plus is that this approach to care can be sustained because it’s so cost-effective and more veteran-centric. Patients in rural areas are increasingly finding that telehealth improves their access to health care and promotes their ongoing relationship with our health care system.”

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