San Francisco, CA — Snaptic , a developer of smartphone and web applications that capture, organize, and share information has partnered with HopeLab, a non-profit focused on improving the quality of life for young people with chronic illness, to sponsor the “Move Your App” developer challenge in response to the 2010 TED Prize Wish.

It is widely recognized that the obesity epidemic and sedentary behavior are catastrophic to global health. Today’s smartphone platforms, such as Android and software APIs like those offered by Snaptic, offer new tools for developers to create apps that give individuals more power and control to improve their health.

“Onboard smartphone sensors, the growth of large online social networks, and mass adoption of mobile software offer fertile ground for a new breed of apps that encourage and measure movement,” said Steve Brown, CEO of Snaptic. “We are excited to work with HopeLab and the Android developer community to help everyone reach a higher state of health and well being.”

HopeLab has joined with Snaptic on this challenge to help advance one of its key initiatives which is focused on addressing the obesity epidemic and sedentary behavior among young people. HopeLab is keenly interested in how mobile technology and mobile apps can inspire people to move more.

“Partnering with Snaptic on this Developer Challenge is a fantastic way to explore how these new tools might reach more people faster and ignite movement in unique and innovative ways” noted Pat Christen, President and CEO of HopeLab.

The World Health Organization’s latest global projections indicate that in 2005 approximately 1.6 billion adults were overweight and projects that by 2015, that figure will rise to 2.3 billion. In the United States, over one-third of Americans are currently overweight or obese, a figure projected to grow to 43 percent, or 103 million people by 2018 if current trends continue. This will translate to an estimated $344 billion in medical-related expenses, consuming 21% of U.S. healthcare spending annually.

The need for change is urgent, and the time is now for new ways to combat this growing epidemic.

The challenge calls on Android developers to create apps that get people to move, are fun to use, and are innovative in their approach to encouraging physical activity. Snaptic will be providing resources for developers to draw from to build their apps and the winners will be selected and awarded at its upcoming developer conference on May 27, 2010 in San Francisco, California .

The Move Your App conference also affords developers the opportunity to learn about what it takes to move an app to market, with numerous expert speakers presenting on a range of subjects, such as: running and financing a startup, marketing and promoting apps, tips and tricks for Android programming, and much more.

Developers can register for the challenge starting Thursday April 22, 2010 and must complete and submit their application by Friday, May 21, 2010. The top finalists will be given an opportunity to showcase their applications at the Snaptic developer conference and the winners will be announced live at the event by a panel of expert judges.

The panel of judges features luminaries and experts such as Juan Enriquez, Author, Futurist, & Partner at Excel Venture Management; Marten Mickos, CEO of Eucalyptus Systems & former CEO MySQL; Amy Novogratz, TED Prize Director; Pam Omidyar, Founder and Board Chair, HopeLab; George Zachary, Partner at Charles River Ventures, and others.

The first place winner’s travel and accommodations to TED Global 2010 in Oxford will be sponsored by HopeLab, and TED will extend an invitation for the winner to attend the conference. The Move Your App prize was inspired in part by Jamie Oliver, who was awarded the 2010 TED Prize for his tireless fight to improve the health of young people everywhere and turn the tide on unhealthy diets. Jamie’s wish states, “I wish for everyone to create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”

Amy Novogratz, TED Prize Director, said “Challenging thousands of app developers to make people move is a fantastic way to promote a healthier lifestyle.” She continued, “The Move Your App challenge embodies the self-organizing principle of the TED Prize and the spirit of Jamie’s wish in the fight against obesity.”

Complete contest rules and conference information can be found at http://snaptic.com/events

About HopeLab
HopeLab is a nonprofit organization that combines rigorous research with innovative solutions to improve the health and quality of life of young people with chronic illness. HopeLab works closely with young people themselves to understand their needs and to incorporate their critical and ongoing input into product development. HopeLab is committed to the scientific study of their interventions to ensure their products are effective. More information can be found at http://hopelab.org.

About Snaptic
Snaptic develops web and mobile applications that make it simple to capture, organize, and share information on the go and keep it connected in the cloud. Snaptic is the leader in note-taking and geo-tagging applications in the Android Market with over 2.5 million active installs and numerous integrations with many of the market’s top applications. For more information, please visit http://snaptic.com.

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, NgoziOkonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where three exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action, and TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world. Follow TED on Twitter, twitter.com/tedtalks, or on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/TED

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.

“Every evaluation of health care interventions supported by the Health Buddy System to date shows a profound impact on the health and utilization of health care of individuals with chronic conditions,” Health Hero CEO Derek Newell said. “We believe that chronic care programs supported by the Health Buddy System offer real hope that we can provide a superior quality of life for individuals who struggle with these conditions while making the costs of their care manageable for the health care system and society – not just in the US, but around the globe.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced this month that it is extending and expanding Health Hero Network’s Health Buddy Project, designed to show how doctors, nurses, and patients using telehealth technology can improve care and reduce hospitalizations associated with chronic conditions such as heart and lung disease and diabetes. The three-year project, which began in 2006 at medical groups in Wenatchee, Washington, and Bend, Oregon, has been extended to January 31, 2012. The project, being conducted in partnership with the American Medical Group Association, will also potentially be allowed to expand to one additional site in the second year of the extended program.

The announcement comes on the heels of the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ publication of four years of data showing a reduction of 19 percent in hospitalizations and 25 percent in bed days of care among a population of 17,025 veterans enrolled in the VA’s Care Coordination and Home Telehealth (CCHT) Program. Health Hero Network has been the leading provider of telehealth technology to the CCHT program.

The company’s Health Buddy System, the telehealth platform deployed extensively by the VA and used in the CMS Health Buddy Project, helps individuals with chronic conditions stay healthier while empowering their caregivers with knowledge to keep complications from worsening to the point where those individuals need to be hospitalized. Since late 2007, Health Hero Network has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch North America.

The Health Buddy System supports individuals with chronic conditions in self-care, while keeping them in daily contact with their care givers. Individuals who use the system get support in self-care behaviors – including medication compliance, diet, and exercise – tailored to their unique conditions. Their caregivers get an actionable stream of knowledge to make targeted interventions at the first sign of symptoms or gaps in behavioral or knowledge that – left unremediated – could lead to a painful and expensive hospitalization.

The Health Buddy Project is being conducted under Medicare’s Care Management for High-Cost Beneficiaries Demonstration. The project brings Health Hero Network together with the American Medical Group Association, as well as Wenatchee Valley Medical Center in Wenatchee, Washington, and Bend Memorial Clinic in Bend, Oregon. The program’s design involves supporting physicians, nurses, and Medicare beneficiaries with the Health Buddy System in a relationship that keeps those beneficiaries healthier and out of the hospital through self-care and early detection of complications.

“The programs in the demonstration have had a positive impact on selected high cost Medicare beneficiaries and have met and/or exceeded the savings target required in the demonstration agreement,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a news release announcing the extension of the Health Buddy Project, as well as two other Care Management for High-Cost Beneficiaries programs.” By extending the demonstration for another 3 years and frequently evaluating their financial status, each of the programs would have the opportunity to continue to impact their populations, maximize savings, and assist CMS in determining the replicability of the programs.”

In a groundbreaking study published December 31 in The Journal of Telemedicine and e-Health, VA clinicians revealed the outcomes of the first multi-year evaluation at scale of the agency’s Care Coordination Home Telehealth Program. Researchers reported that telehealth initiatives successfully reduced hospitalizations by up to 20 percent and improved the overall health conditions of patients who used the systems.

VA researchers praised telehealth systems for being able to provide daily contact with a patient base dispersed over wide geographies and for the behavioral improvements seen in patients who were presented with daily assessments through telehealth devices. The study also cited the program’s modest cost of $1,600 per enrolled patient per year. The VA plans to rapidly expand the deployment of its telehealth program, forecasting more than 50,000 patients will be monitored on telehealth systems by 2011.

“The policy effects that result from the implementation of CCHT are profound,” VA researchers said in the findings of their recent paper. “If 50% 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.”

Renowned for ease of use, the Health Buddy System empowers patients and the people who care for them by improving patient self-care and behavior while enabling care providers to access timely information and intervene before conditions become acute. The system’s features start with the Health Buddy® Appliance and other licensee devices that allow patients to communicate with healthcare professionals by answering a small number of daily questions related to their medical condition and activities. The system offers analytics that then stratify and present this data – through a secure Web-based interface called the Health Buddy Desktop – to empower healthcare professionals to quickly identify problems and take corrective action.

The Health Buddy System features health management programs delivering personalized daily monitoring and patient education in order to promote positive behavior change and provide timely, relevant, and actionable information to care providers; many Health Hero Network programs are certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Health Hero Network customers are using programs, delivered on the Health Buddy System, that cover a wide range of conditions including heart failure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, asthma, COPD, and mental health.

About the Bosch Group and Health Hero Network
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 271,000 associates generated sales of 46.1 billion euros ($63.2 billion) in fiscal 2007. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 300 subsidiary and regional companies in over 50 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. Bosch spends more than three billion euros each year for research and development, and in 2006 applied for over 3,000 patents worldwide. The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.”

In North America, the Bosch Group manufactures and markets automotive original equipment and aftermarket products, industrial automation and mobile products, power tools and accessories, security technology, thermo-technology, packaging equipment and household appliances. Bosch employs approximately 25,000 associates in more than 80 locations throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with reported sales of $9.5 billion in fiscal 2007. For more information on the company, visit www.boschusa.com.

Based in Palo Alto, Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy System for health improvement. The Health Buddy System serves as the interface between patients at home and care providers, facilitating monitoring of and self-management support for patients with chronic conditions. The System includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification, and prevention, the Health Buddy System improves the quality of patient care. Health Hero Network’s systems are protected by 57 issued US patents. For more information, visit www.healthhero.com.

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.

The Key to Better Health program provides targeted disease management directed by clinical nephrologists to identify potential problems and avoid complications, coordinate early intervention plans, and prevent acute hospitalization for beneficiaries identified with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Key to Better Health operates in New York.

Massachusetts General Care Management Program, located in Boston, provides highly integrated care management services through the use of practice-based case managers, individualized plans of care, 24-hour access to care managers, and electronic medical records.

The Health Hero Network’s Health Buddy program is unique because of its focus on the telemonitoring device, and it is representative of the remote health monitoring industry, a growing sector in health care. Health Buddy provides participants with an appliance for use in their homes as a means to monitor participants’ symptoms, physical status, and condition-specific knowledge. This program currently operates in Bend, Oregon and Wenatchee, WA.

All of these programs are unique because of their defined intervention focus on the fee-for-service Medicare population. The programs in the demonstration have had a positive impact on selected high cost Medicare beneficiaries and have met and/or exceeded the savings target required in the demonstration agreement.

By extending the demonstration for another 3 years and frequently evaluating their financial status, each of the programs would have the opportunity to continue to impact their populations, maximize savings, and assist CMS in determining the replicability of the programs.

The CMHCB demonstration was approved to provide disease management services for thousands of beneficiaries by awarding six organizations with populations in sizes from 1,800 to 15,000. The demonstration originally approved for 3 years, tests provider-based intensive care management services as a way to improve quality of care and reduce costs for fee-for-service beneficiaries who have one or more chronic diseases and generally incur high Medicare costs. The sites were chosen in different areas of the country, with the primary focus on disease states of congestive heart failure (CHF), diabetes, and/or chronic kidney disease (CKD).

CMS pre-selects beneficiaries for the demonstration projects according to eligibility criteria, but participation in the demonstration is voluntary. Program services are intended to increase adherence to physician prescribed care, reduce unnecessary hospital stays and emergency room visits, and help participants avoid costly and debilitating complications.

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.

Features on Breastfeeding.com include:

UNPARALLELED BREASTFEEDING CONTENT

With thousands of breastfeeding Q+As, articles and videos, Breastfeeding.com has the deepest easy-to-understand, easy-to-find collection of breastfeeding content on the web.

EXTENSIVE BREASTFEEDING PANEL OF EXPERTS

Breastfeeding.com has assembled the ultimate team of breastfeeding experts and a medical advisory board of the world’s foremost authorities, including Dr. Ruth Lawrence and Dr. Jane Morton.

LACTATION CONSULTANTS

Looking for a lactation consultant? Breastfeeding.com has a directory of nearly 4,000 lactation consultants, Plus, first-time moms struggling with breastfeeding can log onto the website to join in 2-hour live chats with lactation consultants four times a week.

LARGEST COMMUNITY OF BREASTFEEDING MOMS

With one out of two moms in the US and Canada visiting Breastfeeding.com, the site is home to the largest community of breastfeeding mothers.

“We are thrilled to add Breastfeeding.com to our suite of number-one websites for women in key lifestages,” said David Liu, CEO of The Knot Inc.

About The Knot Inc.

The Knot Inc. (NASDAQ: KNOT; www.theknotinc.com) is a leading lifestage media company targeting couples planning their weddings and future lives together. The company’s wedding brands, The Knot and WeddingChannel.com, and newlywed brand, The Nest, reach millions of engaged couples and newlyweds each year. The Knot Inc. Baby Network brands include The Bump, which focuses on pregnancy and first-time parenthood via TheBump.com website and local guides, and LilaGuide.com, a local baby services and community website.

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.

“As the level of competition continues to intensify in high school sports, it has become increasingly important to put powerful tools in the hands of your coaches and athletes,” said John Wirtz, Agile Sports’ Chief Operating Officer.

“Coaches recognize that video is one of the most impactful ways to improve their athletes’ performance and study their opponents – they just haven’t had the means to get the right video to their team quickly and in a format that really engages players, until now.”

Coach Randy Dreiling and his Hutchinson (Kan.) High School Salthawks put Hudl to the test this season as they took aim at their fifth-straight Kansas state football championship. Coach Dreiling and his staff found Hudl to be a valuable ingredient to add to the winning mix as they again took home the title in 2008.

“The ability for our kids to access the video from home at night, right after practice, was essential,” Dreiling said.

Hudl not only gives coaches secure access to their video from anywhere at any time, it also provides the same tools used by the New York Jets and quarterback Brett Favre, including the ability to draw and speak on top of video, instantly share it with specific players and coaches, and quickly exchange video with opponents.

“Hudl is really quick, really easy to access, and really easy to use,” Favre said. “Things that you could only do here at the facility you can do just as quickly from home. If it’s 10 p.m. or if you’re on the road, you can still watch your film just like you’re in the building.”

The Division II University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers were another team that added Hudl to their arsenal for the 2008 season. Grant Mollring, wide receivers coach and video coordinator for the Lopers, found that his players very quickly latched onto Hudl.

“With Hudl, our players wanted to watch more film,” Mollring said. “Both our players and coaches loved being able to watch video from their homes and generate reports and breakdowns with point-and-click ease.”

About Agile Sports Technologies

Agile Sports Technologies was founded in February 2006 by David Graff, Brian Kaiser, and John Wirtz, and officially incorporated in May 2006 to address the changing battlefield in sports. Graff, Kaiser, and Wirtz started the company as graduate students in the Raikes School at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and have grown it to a staff of 15 with clients across the country.

The company’s mission is to bring together talented, passionate technology leaders and put them on the front lines with world-class sports organizations to develop solutions that enable teams at all levels to reach their full potential. For more information about Hudl and Agile Sports Technologies, please visit www.agilesports.com.

Hudl currently offers customized tools and reports for both football and basketball and provides video sharing and analysis for all sports. Significant discounts are available for organizations that sign on to use Hudl for multiple sports.

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.

“In recent years, health care costs in the United States have relentlessly increased,” said Derek Newell, president of Health Hero Network. “With this increase in costs, employers, payers, and providers will continue to turn to technology as a critical part of their solutions both for their disease management and wellness programs.”

“Under this single license available from Health Hero Network, manufacturers who develop products, and companies that provide health management services can conveniently obtain rights to both the Health Hero Network and Healthways patents,” Newell continued. “This agreement will make it easier for the marketplace to utilize the innovations owned by Health Hero Network and Healthways to extend the range of health management solutions available in our industry.”

“The market demand for comprehensive, integrated health, wellness, prevention and care management solutions, including automated patient diagnostic activity and the accurate retrieval of healthcare information by consumers and all of their providers, will require defined technologies that automate the proven processes the industry currently provides to its customers and to the millions of individuals who participate in our programs,” said Ben R. Leedle, Jr., CEO of Healthways. “We are excited to share with Health Hero Network, and make available through this single license opportunity, the extensive intellectual property portfolios we both own and maintain in order to better serve our customers and business partners.”

The joint patent license contains a provision that waives royalties for practice of the technologies for the period prior to Dec. 31, 2008 for companies who become licensees on or before June 1, 2009.

Joint licensing programs provide the market with a convenient and cost-effective way to obtain licenses to the patents essential to practice health management technologies. The programs encourage greater adoption of the critical technologies in a cost effective manner.

Companies that sell, offer, make or use products and services that practice remote health management or disease management should contact Sandeep Jaggi, Sr. Vice President of Intellectual Property at Health Hero Network (sandeep.jaggi@us.bosch.com), to learn more about the joint patent license and to request a sample agreement for review.

Specific inquiries regarding Healthways participation in the joint patent licensing program should be directed to Healthways Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mary Chaput (mary.chaput@healthways.com).

About the Bosch Group and Health Hero Network
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 271,000 associates generated sales of 46.1 billion euros ($63.2 billion) in fiscal 2007. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 300 subsidiary and regional companies in over 50 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. Bosch spends more than three billion euros each year for research and development, and in 2006 applied for over 3,000 patents worldwide. The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.”

In North America, the Bosch Group manufactures and markets automotive original equipment and aftermarket products, industrial automation and mobile products, power tools and accessories, security technology, thermo-technology, packaging equipment and household appliances. Bosch employs approximately 25,000 associates in more than 80 locations throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with reported sales of $9.5 billion in fiscal 2007. For more information on the company, visit www.boschusa.com.

Based in Palo Alto, Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy System for health improvement. The Health Buddy System serves as the interface between patients at home and care providers, facilitating monitoring of and self-management support for patients with chronic conditions. The System includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification, and prevention, the Health Buddy System improves the quality of patient care. Health Hero Network’s systems are protected by 57 issued US patents. For more information, visit www.healthhero.com.

About Healthways
Healthways is the leading provider of specialized, comprehensive Health and Care Support(SM) solutions to help millions of people maintain or improve their health and, as a result, reduce overall healthcare costs. Healthways’ solutions are designed to help healthy individuals stay healthy, mitigate and slow the progression of disease associated with family or lifestyle risk factors and promote the best possible health for those already affected by disease. Our proven, evidence-based programs provide highly specific and personalized interventions for each individual in a population, irrespective of age or health status, and are delivered to consumers by phone, mail, internet and face-to-face interactions, both domestically and internationally. Healthways also provides a national, fully accredited complementary and alternative Health Provider Network, offering convenient access to individuals who seek health services outside of, and in conjunction with, the traditional healthcare system. For more information, please visit www.healthways.com.

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.”

The study found a 25 percent reduction in the average number of days hospitalized and a 19 percent reduction in hospitalizations for patients using home telehealth. The data also show that for some patients the cost of telehealth services in their homes averaged $1,600 a year – much lower than in-home clinician care costs.

The authors of the study in the current issue of the journal Telemedicine and e-Health are VA national telehealth staff members. The study looked at health outcomes from 17,025 VA home telehealth patients.

VA’s home telehealth program cares for 35,000 patients and is the largest of its kind in the world. Clinicians and managers in health care systems, as well as information technology professionals, have been awaiting the results of the telehealth study, said Dr. Adam Darkins, chief consultant in VA’s care coordination program, who led the study.

“The results are not really about the technology, but about how using it helps coordinate the full scope of care our patients need,” said Darkins. “It permits us to give the right care in the right place at the right time.”

VA’s Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Michael J. Kussman, said the key to the program’s success is VA’s computerized patient record system. “Data obtained from the home such as blood pressure and blood glucose, along with other patient information in the electronic system, allows our health care teams to anticipate and prevent avoidable problems,” he said.

VA health care officials emphasize that home telehealth does not necessarily replace nursing home care or traditional care but can help veterans understand and manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and chronic heart failure. Patients’ partnership with the medical team can delay the need for institutional care and maintain independence for an extended time.

Intel Health Guide Blood Pressure Monitoring

After over three years of research, development, and market study, Intel announced the launch of the Intel Health Guide, an Intel-branded device for remotely monitoring and managing patients with chronic illness at home. From Intel’s demo one can see that the device is a laptop computer no keyboard and a reversed touch-screen. Patients can connect and upload blood pressure monitors and other medical devices to communicate results with remote health care providers. In addition to vital sign data collection, the health monitoring software also provides patient reminders, surveys, educational content, and other communication tools.

Although Intel appears to be targeting at the same chronic disease management market, the Health Guide from Intel adds features and functions far beyond its predecessor Health Buddy from Health Hero Network, now a division of Robert Bosch. It will be interesting to see whether or the enhanced functionality such as video conferencing and multimedia content will be the key to market adoption.

Intel Health Guide Home Health Monitor

The real barriers to adoption of remote monitoring and other chronic care strategies may be less about functionality than about institutional incentives and business models ingrained in our health care system. The health care market with Medicare in the lead still rewards health care providers far more for treating the complications of chronic illness than it does for proactive management and monitoring aimed at preventing them.

The incentive systems that determine the viability of new models of health care enabled by devices like the Intel Health Guide and the Health Hero Health Network Health Buddy could be about to change, however. With favorable results from the Medicare chronic care improvement demonstration project currently underway from Health Hero Network in Washington and Oregon, Medicare coverage for health care providers to offer home health monitoring services may be around the corner.

Press Release: Intel Announces its First Home Medical Device to Better Connect Clinicians with Patients

Intel® Health Guide is First Product in Series Designed to Enable More Personalized Care Management for Chronic and Age-related Conditions

Intel Health Guide Telehealth Appliance

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 10, 2008 – Intel Corporation today announced its Intel® Health Guide, a care management tool designed for health care professionals who manage patients with chronic conditions. The Health Guide represents Intel’s entry into a new category of personal health systems that go beyond the simple remote patient monitoring systems available today.

The Intel® Health Guide, which received 510(k) market clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July, is a comprehensive personal health system that combines an in-home patient device — the Intel® Health Guide PHS6000 — as well as an online interface — the Intel® Health Care Management Suite — allowing clinicians to monitor patients in their homes and manage care remotely.

“The Health Guide is a step forward in offering more personalized and effective management of chronic health conditions in the home,” said Louis Burns, vice president and general manager of the Intel Digital Health Group. “Intel has spent years researching the needs of both caregivers and patients, and we are now moving to launch a series of products that will help extend care from the hospital to the home. Our products will help address the challenges of an aging population and rising rates of chronic disease.”

Intel is collaborating with health care industry leaders around the world to validate the clinical benefits of the Health Guide for a wide range of chronic disease conditions and health and wellness applications. Pilot studies in the United States are currently planned with health care organizations such as Aetna, Erickson Retirement Communities, Providence Medical Group in Oregon and SCAN Health Plan. The goals and objectives are to assess how the Health Guide integrates with different care management models in the home. These first studies focus on the ability to demonstrate improved health outcomes for conditions such as heart failure, diabetes, hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Customers such as Advanced Warning Systems, Inc., (AWS), a provider of health care discovery products and web-based services, monitor people for acute cardiovascular symptoms that can cause sudden death. AWS will use the Intel Heath Guide to connect with a targeted class of users, including retired athletes and post-war veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with the highest incidence of cardiovascular related illnesses.

The Health Guide promotes greater patient engagement and more efficient care management by enabling communication between patients and health care professionals and providing clinicians with access to the most current, actionable data. This solution offers interactive tools for personalized care management and includes vital sign collection, patient reminders, surveys, multimedia educational content, and feedback and communications tools, such as video conferencing and alerts. Clinicians have ongoing access to data so that they can better manage each patient’s conditions while patients benefit from customized care in the comfort of their own living room.

Intel is working with leading health care organizations that have an understanding of health care delivery to develop unique patient care plans as well as multimedia educational content for chronic conditions. Specifically, Intel is working with the Mayo Clinic to have licensed educational content from MayoClinic.com made available to customers using the Health Guide. In addition, Intel is working with the American Heart Association to create care plans based on the organization’s treatment guidelines for a pilot project for the ongoing management of patients with heart failure. The intent is to help health care professionals monitor patients and remotely manage their care in accordance with science guidelines and also to provide patients with ready access to credible and targeted education material.

Intel has also hired a team of clinical experts to provide a range of professional services to enable health care organizations to successfully integrate the personal health system into their current disease management programs and models of care.

Additionally, Intel plans to use the core technology components of the solution to build products targeted for new areas such as independent living and programs for health and wellness management and to support new devices such as mobile phones and handhelds.

American Medical Alert Corporation, a national provider of remote patient monitoring devices and 24/7 health care communication services, will be the first U.S. market channel partner for the Intel Health Guide. By adding the Intel Health Guide to its portfolio of offerings, AMAC will be further equipped to provide its customers with the best in care management technologies. The Health Guide is designed to be used by health care professionals to manage their patients at home and is not currently available for general consumer purchase.

For information on how to purchase this product, visit www.intel.com/healthcare/ps/healthguide/wtb.htm. For more information on the Intel Health Guide, visit www.intel.com/healthcare/telehealth. To learn more about Intel in health care, go to www.intel.com/healthcare.

About Intel

Intel [NASDAQ: INTC], the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom and blogs.intel.com.

Products in the health monitoring business

All associates will become members of the Bosch team

Stuttgart – The Bosch Group has announced it has acquired a majority shareholding in Health Hero Network, a leading innovator in the remote health monitoring business. An agreement to this effect has been reached with the company’s shareholders. Terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.

Health Hero Network, headquartered in Palo Alto, California, develops and sells technology solutions that allow the remote monitoring and management of patient health data. “With the innovative products of Health Hero Network, the Bosch Group can help patients with chronic conditions achieve a better quality of life,” said project leader Sascha Henke. Since it was founded in 1992, Health Hero Network has been issued 63 patents. The company currently employs 44 associates, all of whom will be retained by Bosch.

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology, some 260,000 associates generated sales of 43.7 billion euros in fiscal 2006. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 300 subsidiary and regional companies in over 50 countries. This worldwide development, manufacturing, and sales network is the foundation for further growth. Bosch spends more than three billion euros each year for research and development, and in 2006 applied for over 3,000 patents worldwide. The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.”

The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-two percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by the trust. The remaining shares are held by the Bosch family and by Robert Bosch GmbH.

News Release: Steve Brown Joins MDV Focused on Internet and Healthcare. Brings Media and Systems Experience Aimed at Promoting Healthier Behavior

MENLO PARK, Calif., July 19 /PRNewswire/ — MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures, (http://www.mdv.com), a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm, today announced the addition of Steve Brown as an Entrepreneur in Residence. He will work with MDV to pursue opportunities that apply Internet technologies and services to empower consumers and to encourage healthier lifestyles.

Brown brings to MDV eighteen years experience in healthcare and technology with specific expertise in networked systems and media designed to measure and modify health-related behavior.

Prior to MDV, Steve was the CEO of Health Hero Network, where he led the development of the Health Buddy(R) system, the leading home health monitoring platform used by the Veterans Administration (VA), McKesson and other major healthcare institutions. The VA has documented this system to reduce hospital admissions and improve the quality of care for patients with diabetes, heart failure, and other serious chronic conditions. Before that, Steve conducted NIH-funded research in behavior modification media and led a business that developed multi-player role-playing video games to improve health behavior in children. These video games were licensed by Nintendo and distributed by major pharmaceutical companies.

“Steve is a pioneer in applying media and technology to changing health- related behavior and managing chronic disease,” said MDV Partner Sue Siegel. “He has also built and led entrepreneurial teams and taken products from concept to successful worldwide commercialization.”

“I am excited to work with MDV because they recognize the opportunity for disruptive new ideas to transform major sectors of the world economy in healthcare, energy, and information technology,” Brown said. “Advances in social media, wireless sensors, and virtual environments can lead to powerful new business models and new incentives for people to manage health and change behavior.”

Brown has played a leadership role in industry organizations including the Information Technology Association of America. He has testified at Congressional hearings to help change government policies and open markets for chronic care improvement and remote health services. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Stanford University with an honors thesis on modeling climate change. Steve’s innovations have resulted in over 50 patents and numerous industry awards.

MDV has funded entrepreneurial life sciences teams that bring a blend of backgrounds — from molecular biology to computer science to physics to chemistry — and are developing companies that apply a powerful multi-disciplinary approach from inception. The firm is specifically focused on life sciences companies whose products are on track to make it to market inside of three to five years.

About MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures

MDV is a leading early stage Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that for nearly 25 years has identified, mentored and developed entrepreneurs and young companies redefining business technology and medicine. The firm invests around three major business and science concerns: Powering the Planet; Personalizing Medicine; and Driving the Digital World. MDV’s team engages very early in the life of a company to impact its long-term success. Category- leading companies funded by MDV include Agile, Brocade, Energy Innovations, Epigram (BRCM), FormFactor, Ipsilon Networks (NOK), Kalpana (CSCO), Nanosolar, NeuroMolecular Pharmaceuticals, ONI Systems (CIEN), Pacific Biosciences, ParAllele (AFFX), Pivotal Technologies (BRCM), Proofpoint, Revenue Science, and Shutterfly. MDV has $1.4 billion dollars under management. For more information visit http://www.mdv.com.

Redwood City, CA – November 16, 2006 — Health Hero Network Inc., a leading innovator of technology solutions for chronic care management, today announced it has secured $16 million in an oversubscribed series B financing to underwrite ongoing new product development and marketing for its successful Health Buddy System. The investment was led by existing investor Psilos Group and new investors California Technology Ventures, Integral Capital Partners and Boston Scientific. Existing investors Artal Services, Shoreline Venture Partners and ZG Ventures provided additional support.

The Health Buddy System helps improve patient outcomes and reduces the cost of care for patients with chronic diseases by educating and monitoring patients at home through easy-to-use home devices. Healthcare professionals access data transmitted from the patient at home using web-based health management programs. Studies have shown that the Health Buddy System produces results by modifying patient behavior and improving therapy compliance, while enabling healthcare professionals to identify problems earlier and prevent acute complications of chronic illnesses. The System is being utilized by more than 16,000 patients and is currently deployed in 120 Veteran Health Administration facilities.

“This additional investment will reinforce our long-standing leadership position in providing tools enabling a better model of care for patients with chronic conditions and their care providers,” said Steve Brown, president and chief executive officer of Health Hero Network. “We are expanding our technology and services to more partners and customers. We are committed to delivering convenient and easy-to-use solutions for patients.”

An estimated 133 million Americans, or about 45 percent of the population, have one or more chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). According to a 2004 study by the Robert Wood Foundation and Johns Hopkins University, spending for chronic illnesses represents 83 percent of total health care costs in the United States.

“Automated patient behavior monitoring and modification systems are essential to meeting the growing needs of patients, health care providers, and payers. The Health Buddy System serves as a critical interface among these parties and has proven to have a positive effect on patient outcomes and cost containment,” said Brian Stansky, managing director for Integral Capital Partners. “We look forward to working with the Health Hero Network team and the other investors to bring this technology to an expanding set of patient needs and care settings.”

“The company has deep intellectual property assets and customer relationships that prove the value of the intellectual property, as evidenced by the company’s work with the VA and the company’s licensing agreements with leading companies,” said Alex Suh, Founding Managing Director of California Technology Ventures. “Strong financial backing and continued commitment from the company’s investors and management show that Health Hero Network will be a leader in this market for years to come.”

About Health Hero Network
Based in Redwood City, Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy® System for health improvement. The Health Buddy System serves as the interface between patients at home and care providers, facilitating education and monitoring of patients with chronic conditions. The System includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification, and prevention, the Health Buddy System improves the quality of patient care. Health Hero Network’s systems are protected by 57 issued US patents. http://www.healthhero.com.

“Health Hero Network’s Health Buddy system represents the very best of innovations in health care. It’s an elegant solution that truly makes the timely delivery of quality, cost-effective health care a reality,” said ABL President, Mimi Grant.

In bestowing the award, the ABL noted that the Health Buddy system, currently used by over 12,000 patients, has delivered significant clinical outcomes including reduced hospital admissions, reduced inpatient bed days, increased medication compliance, and reduced costs. The Health Buddy system is also recognized as the leading telehealth solution in use by the Veterans Affairs Administration (VA), deployed in over 100 of its clinical sites across the country. Coincidently, Kenneth Kizer, MD, former head of the Veterans Health System, was honored by the ABL for his leadership while he was at the helm of the VA, where he was the principal architect of the largest transformation in the organization’s history.

“Health Hero Network was founded on the vision that health care can be transformed to provide better service to people who struggle with complex chronic conditions while substantially reducing medical costs,” said Steve Brown, CEO of Health Hero Network. “To be recognized alongside other outstanding health care CEOs and business leaders in California is a great honor. Recognition of our Health Buddy system and its proven effectiveness in organizations such as the VA, our nation’s largest health care delivery system, is validation for us that the time has come for a better system of care,” added Brown.

About Health Hero Network
Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy system for health improvement. The system serves as the interface between patients at home and care providers, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. The system includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification, and prevention, the Health Buddy system improves patients’ quality of care. Based in Redwood City, California, Health Hero Network’s systems are protected by over 57 patents. http://www.healthhero.com

Washington, DC – December 12, 2005 — Health Hero Network is demonstrating its home health monitoring technology today at the once-a-decade White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA). The hands-on technology exhibition is hosted by the Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) to show technologies available to help meet the demands of the rapidly growing population of aging Americans and their caregivers. Health Hero Network will demonstrate how its Health Buddy® system can transform care for seniors with chronic illnesses by coaching and educating them to manage their conditions at home and enabling care providers a daily connection to check on their patients.

Health Hero Network develops the Health Buddy system, which provides coaching, education and monitoring for patients with chronic conditions. A countertop appliance called the Health Buddy appliance is used in the patients’ home to provide a daily dialog of questions about the patient’s condition, as well as reminders and information for improved self-care. Care providers access the responses on a secure website, so they can monitor multiple patients simultaneously and intervene early if a condition is at risk of deteriorating.

“The White House Conference on Aging and the Center for Aging Services Technologies are calling attention to a looming crisis in this country – how to care for the largest population of older people the country has ever known,” said Steve Brown, CEO of Health Hero Network. “As the population of older people grows, so does the number of people with chronic conditions. Health Hero Network is acting now to address that issue before it becomes a crisis. We’re improving quality of chronic care by helping patients manage their own conditions, while also helping physicians care for the growing number of people with chronic illness.”

The Health Buddy system is currently being used in disease management, government, home care, hospital, Medicare, Medicaid, and research markets.

Health Hero Network will be showing its Health Buddy system at the CAST Imagine Pavilion (Booth #7) at the WHCoA on December 12-13, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.

About CAST
The Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) is leading the national charge to develop and deploy technologies that can improve the aging experience in America. CAST has four focus areas: 1) driving a national vision of how technologies can improve the quality of life for seniors while reducing healthcare costs; 2) accelerating technology R&D pilots with seniors to prove out this vision, 3) advocating to remove barriers to the rapid commercialization of proven solutions; and 4) promoting national dialogue about standards to insure interoperability and widespread access to aging services technologies. Established in 2003, CAST (www.agingtech.org) has become a national coalition of more than 400 technology companies, aging services organizations, research universities, and government representatives working together under the auspices of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (www.aahsa.org). The members of AAHSA serve 2 million people every day through mission-driven, not-for-profit organizations.

About Health Hero Network
Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy® system for health improvement. The Health Buddy system serves as the interface between patients at home and care providers, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. The system includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification, and prevention, the Health Buddy system improves the quality of care. Based in Mountain View, California, Health Hero Network’s systems are protected by over 55 issued US patents. http://www.healthhero.com.

ALEXANDRIA, VA, – July 5, 2005 — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has selected Health Hero Network, the American Medical Group Association (AMGA), and medical groups in Washington and Oregon to demonstrate how doctors can use home health monitoring technology to help Medicare patients with severe chronic illness live healthier, happier, longer lives – and reduce Medicare spending by preventing hospitalizations. The medical groups are Bend Memorial Clinic in Bend, Oregon, and Wenatchee Valley Medical Center in Wenatchee, Washington. The medical groups will implement a physician-led, technology-supported care management program for up to 2,000 Medicare beneficiaries with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and/or diabetes.

The group has named its effort the “ACCENT Project” — Advancing Chronic Care through E*Health Networks and Technologies. It is one of six projects selected by CMS under the Care Management for High-Cost Beneficiaries Demonstration. The CMS initiative will test approaches for transforming how doctors and hospitals provide care for high-cost Medicare patients with severe, complex chronic conditions. The goal is to improve the quality of life for these patients while significantly reducing costs. The ACCENT Project is notable among awardees because it will be conducted across multiple sites and because of its robust use of health information technology.

“The ACCENT Project will demonstrate that doctors and patients with severe chronic illness, supported by information technology, can establish a new partnership to provide exceptional preventive care for patients in their homes, and keep them healthier and living independently longer while reducing costs,” said AMGA President Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D. “CMS is rightfully coming to focus on creative new approaches to managing high-risk patients with chronic conditions. They are suffering under the current, crisis-driven approach to care, and they account for most health care spending. We look forward to partnering with CMS to show how medical groups supported by health information technology will produce great results for Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayers.”

CMS is requiring that Care Management for High-Cost Beneficiaries Demonstration awardees demonstrate improvements in the quality of care for high-cost Medicare patients who represent most of the program’s expenditures. Awardees are guaranteeing to CMS that they will save at least 5 percent of the total Medicare costs for the patients assigned to them.

The ACCENT Project’s key technology component is the Health Buddy system from Health Hero Network. Doctors and nurses at Bend Memorial Clinic and Wenatchee Valley Medical Center will use the Health Buddy appliance to coach patients at home about preventive behaviors that will keep them healthy. The doctors and nurses will use data generated by the Health Buddy appliance to spot problems and intervene early, before patients get so sick that they need to go to the emergency room or be hospitalized.

The ACCENT Project is slated to begin on January 1, 2006, and will last three years. CMS will assign to the ACCENT Project a patient population of approximately 2,000 patients who are already under the care of physicians at Bend Memorial Clinic and Wenatchee Valley Medical Center. Project coordinators will then actively recruit, enroll and manage CMS-assigned patients with the active cooperation of medical group physicians.

Beneficiary participation in the programs will be voluntary and will not change the amount, duration or scope of participants’ fee-for-service Medicare benefits. Fee-for-service Medicare benefits will continue to be covered, administered and paid under the traditional Fee-for-service Medicare program. Programs will be offered at no charge to the beneficiary. Organizations chosen for the demonstration will not be able to restrict beneficiary access to care or restrict beneficiaries to a limited number of physicians in a network.

About Health Hero Network
Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy® system for health improvement. The Health Buddy system serves as the interface between patients at home and care providers, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. The system includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification, and prevention, the Health Buddy system improves the quality of care. Based in Mountain View, California, Health Hero Network’s systems are protected by over 55 issued US patents. http://www.healthhero.com.

About Medical Group Association
The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) represents medical groups, including some of the nation’s largest, most prestigious integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA advocates for the multispecialty medical group model of healthcare delivery and for the patients served by medical groups through innovation and information sharing, benchmarking, leadership development, and continuous striving to improve patient care. The members of AMGA deliver health care to more than 50 million patients in 42 states, including 15 million capitated lives. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for medical groups providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs and publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. For more information, visit www.amga.org.
Contact: Julie Sanderson-Austin, RN, VP, Quality Management and Research, 703/838-0033, ext 356, jsanderson-austin@amga.org

About Bend Memorial Clinic
Offering primary and specialty care since 1946, Bend Memorial Clinic includes 70 physicians representing 13 branches of medicine. It is the largest multi-specialty group east of the Cascades and functions as a comprehensive referral center for physicians and communities throughout the state. At Bend Memorial Clinic, your health is our passion.
Contact: Kim Barnes, Director Marketing & Business Development, 541-317-4370, kbarnes@bmcllp.com

About Wenatchee Valley Medical Center
Wenatchee Valley Medical Center, established in 1940, is a multi-specialty group with offices in seven communities in North Central Washington, serving an area of approximately 12,000 square miles. The medical center was founded on a commitment to serve patient needs by providing the highest quality healthcare and services in an atmosphere of concern and caring, with an organizational commitment of assisting in the development of one of the nation’s best rural healthcare delivery systems. Today, approximately 210 physicians and midlevel providers represent over 30 specialties and subspecialties and provide comprehensive medical and ancillary services to patients.
Contact: Richard Bennett, Assistant Administrator, 509-663-8711 ext. 5084, rbennett@wvmedical.com

Arlington, VA, – The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) today applauded a call by a technology company executive for greater emphasis on prevention as a means to control chronic illnesses and lower Medicare costs.

Appearing before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Aging on June 30, Stephen J. Brown, President and CEO of Health Hero Network and chairman of the ITAA E-Health Committee, said, “Most analysts agree that there are currently 6 million Medicare patients, most with severe chronic illness…who account for 75 percent of Medicare spending.”

Brown cited an ITAA white paper, Chronic Care Improvement: How Medicare Transformation Can Save Lives, Save Money, and Stimulate an Emerging Technology Industry, that concludes Medicare could save over $30 billion a year in chronic care costs by using coaching and monitoring strategies previously employed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Brown added that information technology can modernize chronic care delivery, extending it into the home, helping patients improve their lives, and providing care before a health crisis occurs.

A copy of the white paper is available by clicking here.

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) provides global public policy, business networking, and national leadership to promote the continued rapid growth of the IT industry. ITAA consists of over 380 corporate members throughout the U.S. The Association plays the leading role in issues of IT industry concern including information security, taxes and finance policy, digital intellectual property protection, telecommunications competition, workforce and education, immigration, online privacy and consumer protection, government IT procurement, human resources and e-commerce policy. ITAA members range from the smallest IT start-ups to industry leaders in the Internet, software, IT services, ASP, digital content, systems integration, telecommunications, and enterprise solution fields. For more information visit www.itaa.org. ITAA is secretariat of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance, consisting of 67 IT trade associations around the world.

WASHINGTON, DC – June 8, 2005 – Health Hero Network, Inc. today is demonstrating its new Health Buddy® system on Capitol Hill to show health policy leaders how technologies can improve chronic care by coaching and monitoring patients at home. As one of the few companies invited to participate in the Tech Demonstration Day, Health Hero Network will show how the Health Buddy® system is playing a leading role at the Veterans Administration (VA) in improving quality of care and reducing costs for the VA’s highest risk patients with severe chronic illness. The Health Buddy system will also be included in upcoming landmark Medicare demonstration programs.

The seminar and all-day technology demonstration is hosted by the eHealth Initiative and the Capitol Hill “Steering Committee on Telehealth and Healthcare Informatics.” The event is attended by Congressional leaders and government decision makers who are committed to improving the quality of health care.

“Coaching and monitoring patients at home is a key element of transforming and improving chronic care,” said Steve Brown, Health Hero Network’s CEO. “The attendees of today’s event will have the opportunity to see first hand how information technology can enable chronic care improvement by connecting people at home with chronic illness to proactive and preventive healthcare services.”

The eHealth Initiative is a non-profit affiliated organization whose mission is to drive improvement in the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare through information and information technology. The Capitol Hill “Steering Committee on Telehealth and Healthcare Informatics” is now in its 12th year

About Health Hero Network
Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy® system for health improvement. The Health Buddy system serves as the interface between patients at home and care providers, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. The system includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification, and prevention, the Health Buddy system improves the quality of care. Based in Mountain View, California, Health Hero Network’s systems are protected by over 55 issued US patents. http://www.healthhero.com.

Mountain View, CA – May 23, 2005 – Health Hero Network’s Dutch partner Sananet B.V., an eHealth company offering information and communication technology products and services to improve the quality of health and social services in the Netherlands was selected by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) for a best practice project in telemedicine. Sananet was invited to demonstrate their project using Health Hero Network technology at the Ministerial Conference and Exhibition e-health 2005, May 23 and 24 in Tromso, Norway. The Ministerial Conference is a high-level conference and exhibition sponsored by the European Commission to promote advances in health care enabled by information and communications technology (ICT).

Representatives from Sananet will present their experiences and results with remote health monitoring for heart failure patients in Limburg to public health experts and decision makers from the entire European Union. Sananet will demonstrate the Health Buddy® system used in their telemedicine program sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Provincie Limburg which covers Heart Failure patients at the Academic Hospital Maastricht, the Atrium medical center in Heerlen and the Orbis medical and care group in Sittard/Geleen. The technology presented in Tromso will include the Health Buddy® appliance for monitoring and coaching patients with chronic illnesses and web-based decision support tools providing health data and services for care providers.

“In the Netherlands we showed that patients feel more safe and their self efficacy improves significantly after 6 weeks using the Health Buddy ® appliance at their home. The results are very promising for the near future and we expect that more patients with chronic illnesses will receive a Health Buddy ® appliance. In the Utrecht region we developed a telemedicine program which covers COPD sponsored by the Asthma foundation, and there we expect the same results. The selection as a Dutch Best Practice by the Ministry of Health for this Telehealth solution will accelerate the structural embedding of telemedicine programs in the Dutch Healthcare System, “ noted Jan Ramaekers, Sananet CEO. “Sananet is honored to have Health Hero Network as a strategic partner.”

“Around the world, people with chronic conditions have similar needs for coaching and monitoring at home in order to prevent hospitalization and improve the quality of care,” noted Steve Brown, Health Hero Network CEO. “Health Hero Network is honored to partner with leading innovators in Europe to advance chronic care, which is a critical necessity given the growing health needs of an aging population.”

About Sananet
Sananet B.V. offers products and services to enable professionals and patients to use sophisticated information and communication technology (ICT) for eHealth. Sananet enables healthcare professionals to link care providers with each other and patient data regardless of time or place, helping to provide efficient relations between different care partners and patients. The simplified communication facilitated by Sananet results in increased quality of care. Sananet’s services include consultancy, network capacity, training and solutions support. http://www.sananet.nl/

About Health Hero Network
Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy® system for health improvement. The Health Buddy system serves as the interface between patients at home and care providers, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. The system includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification, and prevention, the Health Buddy system improves the quality of care. Based in Mountain View, California, Health Hero Network’s systems are protected by over 55 issued US patents. http://www.healthhero.com.

Mountain View, CA – July 27, 2004 – Health Hero Network, Inc., the leading innovator of technology solutions for remote health monitoring, reports that McKesson has chosen the Health Buddy® system to launch its new telehealth solution, McKesson Telehealth Advisor™. Health Hero Network and McKesson, the world’s largest healthcare services and information technology company, have signed an agreement whereby McKesson will market and resell the Health Buddy system to the homecare market and provide integration with Horizon Homecare™. The partnership allows McKesson to offer 17,000 nurses and other clinicians relying on Horizon Homecare a new integrated telehealth solution that addresses the strains on our health care system while improving patient quality and care.

“We are extremely excited to work with McKesson, an organization who understands and has a history of streamlining processes and improving quality of patient care while bringing high-quality healthcare information and technology to the home care market,” said Geoffrey Clapp, Health Hero Network Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operations Officer. “This relationship gives Health Hero Network a natural extension of our technology to the growing number of patients with chronic illnesses requesting home care services.”

“We are pleased to work with Health Hero Network, the leader in remote health monitoring,” said Craig Fraizer, McKesson Vice President and General Manager, Extended Care Solutions Group. “Its unique, simple and easy-to-use monitoring technology and data management tools, along with its highly personalized health management programs and complex data system, are making a difference in patients’ lives and improving health outcomes at the same time. Combined with McKesson’s Horizon Homecare Agency Management System, we will provide our customers with a single, integrated electronic medical record, including data from nursing visits and telehealth monitors.”

Telehealth Advisor, based on the Health Buddy system, includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. The system serves as the interface between patients at home and their care providers, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. McKesson will package and sell the system to the home care market as Telehealth Advisor. Telehealth Advisor will offer Health Hero Network’s state-of-the-art health management programs in various disease areas, such as diabetes, heart disease and mental health, as well as related health topics like pain management and wellness to manage chronic illness. McKesson’s new telehealth solution will allow patients to collect their vital signs using medical devices (such as a scale, blood pressure monitor or blood glucose monitor) and transmit the readings and responses to other symptom, behavior and education questions to their provider via an easy-to-use Health Buddy appliance connected to an ordinary phone line.

Patients respond to disease-specific questions presented by the Health Buddy appliance, which connects to a database containing thousands of questions on the most common disease and health subjects. The programs are based on appropriate standard practice guidelines and use dynamically branching question taxonomy. Patients gain a better understanding of their health condition and providers benefit by increasing the efficiency of their staff nurses while improving patient care through better health management

About Health Hero Network
Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy® system for health improvement. The Health Buddy system serves as the interface between patients at home and care providers, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. The system includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification, and prevention, the Health Buddy system improves the quality of care. Based in Mountain View, California, Health Hero Network’s systems are protected by over 55 issued US patents. http://www.healthhero.com