June 4, 2001 Veterans Health Administration Telemedicine Project
VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES BETTER PATIENT CARE WITH SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS IN TELEMEDICINE PROJECT
Mountain View, CA - June 4, 2001 - Health Hero Network, Inc., today reported stunning results from a Veterans Health Administration program using the Health Hero remote patient monitoring platform. The Veterans Integrated Service Network of Florida (VISN 8) released the six-month outcomes analysis of their program for patients with chronic conditions including heart disease, lung disease, diabetes and mental health. This program, called Home & Community Care Service Line, showed remarkable cost savings while improving patient quality of life and provider satisfaction. VISN 8 demonstrated this model at the VA National Telemedicine Meeting as a blueprint for integrating technology with in-home patient care.
VISN 8 results for this six-month, 600 patient study showed a 74% cost reduction in areas such as inpatient, outpatient and medication costs. This translated to a net savings of 23 million dollars across the study population, over half of which communicated with caregivers via the Health Buddy® Appliance. In the customer satisfaction survey patients rated the technology as understandable, reliable and easy to use. Patients reported they were more educated, more secure and better able to manage their own health care needs.
“The Health Buddy has been an asset to our Care Coordinators in proactively resolving potential health problems,” said Rita Kobb, ARNP, Care Coordinator of the Rural Home Care Project based in Lake City, FL. “Patients have responded very positively to the technology.”
The Health Hero platform used by the VISN 8 program consists of the Health Hero iCare Desktop™, a web-based patient management tool, and Health Buddy®, an easy-to-use information appliance placed in the patient’s home. Together the web tools and the appliance form an integrated solution that helps care managers identify potential problems with patients before they occur, while facilitating behavior modification and education on self-management.
VISN 8 currently uses the Health Hero patient management solution as part of its demonstration initiative to increase the quality of health care services for veterans. This initiative was designed to improve clinical outcomes, increase patient satisfaction and reduce costs through daily patient in-home monitoring. The Health Hero enhanced program currently supports patients with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), Hypertension, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Diabetes, and Mental Illness including Bi-Polar Disorder and Depression.
“It is our hope that other Veterans Integrated Service Networks will use the VISN 8 blueprint to extend these tremendous patient benefits and cost savings throughout the nation,” said Steve Brown, CEO of Health Hero Network. “We are honored to be a technology partner supporting these innovations in care management by our nation’s largest healthcare delivery system.”
About Health Hero Network
Health Hero Network, Inc., based in Mountain View, California, develops and markets the industry leading technology platform for remote patient communications, monitoring, and care management. The Health Hero platform includes a technology platform for remote patient monitoring and Internet-based care management and research application services. The Health Hero® solution consists of web-based tools for caregivers and the Health Buddy® appliance, iCare Desktop™, a web based patient management application for health care professionals, patient interfaces such as the Health Buddy appliance, a secure data center acting as the repository for application services and collected data, and content for over a dozen major chronic diseases. Health Hero Network licenses its platform to medical technology and services companies seeking a technology blueprint proven to enable better chronic care with lower costs to the healthcare system. Health Hero Network technology is protected by over 40 issued U.S. patents. For more information about Health Hero, visit www.healthhero.com.
