PHC Launches State-of-the-Art Telehealth Project

To test the benefits of technology in patient care, Partners Home Care recently joined forces with American TeleCare, Inc. (ATI) and Partners Telemedicine to launch a nine-month clinical trial of Home Telemonitoring. The study will assess whether PHC patients with Class 3 or 4 Congestive Heart Failure improve with daily telemonitoring and nursing assessments, compared to patients receiving standard homecare services. Improvement is defined as fewer emergency room visits, fewer hospitalizations and improved quality of life.

The Telemedicine Home Health System connects directly to a patient's telephone and features live audio/video components combined with other medical "peripherals"—blood pressure meter, scale, pulse oximeter—allowing the health clinician to conduct a complete "virtual visit" to patients at home.

In announcing the program, PHC President Marcia Reissig said, "Partners Home Care is pleased to join ATI and Partners Telemedicine in this innovative project. ATI's commitment to high quality patient care and research endeavors are compatible with our goals. Their commitment to patient investment mirrors ours."

A pioneer in the concept of home telemedicine, ATI guides its business partners in the development of telehomecare programs. The company currently markets the AVIVAT System; an FDA-cleared telemedicine monitoring system. "This technology will support PHC's ability to reduce health care costs through a reduction in emergency room use, inpatient admissions and length of stays," said Randy Moore, CEO of American TeleCare.

Playing a key role in the study was Partners Telemedicine. "Partners HealthCare System is a leader in the telemedicine industry and is proud of its innovative programs," said Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, Corporate Director of Partners Telemedicine. "American TeleCare is an industry leader in the telemonitoring market. Their service, quality and experience made it clear that they were the right partners for our digital home health care initiative."

For more information about Partners Home Care's Telehealth project, please see our Telehealth Flier, available as a printable PDF. If you need Acrobat Reader to view the file, it is available as a free download at the Adobe Web site.