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HOME & COMMUNITY CARE SERVICE LINE OF VISN 8 AWARDED BEST TELEHEALTH 2001 PROVIDER AT ATSP/HIMSS
The Service Line Rural Home Care Project announces multi-million dollar cost savings in telehealth

Mountain View, CA - October 3, 2001 - Health Hero Network, Inc, today announced that the Home & Community Care Service Line of VISN 8, the Sunshine Network, received the best Telehealth 2001 provider award and their Rural Home Care Project released positive patient outcomes at the Association of Telehealth Service Providers (ATSP) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Utilizing the Health Hero® technology platform in their program, the Rural Home Care project presented a 93% reduction in total healthcare costs across their program covering chronic conditions including heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, and several co-morbidities. The Home & Community Care Service Line continues to see significant cost savings, high patient satisfaction, and now with the Telehealth 2001 Provider Award has been recognized for their efforts.

“The Telehealth 2001 Provider award is significant because it recognizes our achievements in the early stages of program development and the clinical outcomes of our care coordination model across eight project sites in Florida and Puerto Rico”, said Pat Ryan, Clinical Program Director of the Home & Community Care Service Line. “An award of this type rewards the ongoing visionary leadership of Marlis Meyer, Acting Service Line Director and Robert Roswell MD, Network Director”.

In addition to the Service Line’s high achievements in Telehealth, the Lake City, Rural Home Care Project reported $10 million dollars in health care savings across 190 patients where Health Hero’s Technology was used for 115 patients. The Lake City outcomes for the 115 patients using the Health Hero® Health Buddy® appliance who have been in the program for a minimum of six months showed a 74% reductions in hospitalizations, 78% reductions in ER/Walk in visits and a 93% patient satisfaction with the Health Hero technology. 77% of patients reported their perceived patient health to be the same or better and 39 physicians reported 97% provider satisfaction with the project.

“The goal is not to deny access but to encourage the right care at the right time at the right place”, said Robert Lodge, MSW, Care Coordinator of the Rural Home Care Project. “What we need to keep in mind is 77% of patients on the Health Buddy perceived their health as the same or better since enrollment in the program. These patients did not feel deprived of any traditional face to face care.”

The Health Hero technology platform, the leading internet-based patient management solution is currently used by VISN 8’s Home & Community Care Service Line as part of its home technology demonstration initiative aimed at increasing the quality of health care services for veterans. This initiative is meant to improve clinical outcomes, reduce costs, and increase patient satisfaction by identifying potential problems sooner, thereby keeping patients as healthy as possible. The Health Hero enhanced program supports patients with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), Hypertension, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Diabetes, Mental Illness including Bi-Polar Disorder, Depression and now several co-morbidities. The Service Line recently added two new projects, spinal cord injury in Puerto Rico and mental health in West Palm Beach Florida.

The Health Hero technology platform consists of the Health Hero iCare Desktop™, a web-based patient management tool, and the Health Buddy an easy-to-use appliance placed in the patient’s home or other point of care. Together the web tools and appliance form an integrated solution that helps care managers identify potential problems with patients before they occur while facilitating education for self-management and behavior modification.

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.