Technology Grants Announced For New Remote Monitoring Projects

The Center for Technology and Aging recently announced that five organizations will receive grants for remote patient monitoring (RPM) technology projects that will demonstrate how RPM improves the quality and efficiency of chronic disease management and post-acute care of older adults.  The Center’s RPM initiative goals are to demonstrate that the technologies involved can reduce costs, burdens on caregivers and the use of emergency rooms and hospitals by older adults. 

The grantees for the projects are:

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  • Sharp HealthCare Foundation – Working with senior and home health agencies, this project will monitor patients who have five or more chronic conditions – which may include CHF, peripheral artery disease, COPD, atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease – with the goal of reducing unplanned hospital readmission rates.
  • New England Healthcare Institute – Using the Electronic House Call System (ExpressMD Solutions) and in collaboration with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Atrius Health, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, this Massachusetts-based project seeks to demonstrate clinical and financial benefits from the use of RPM technologies as evidenced by reducing hospital readmissions.
  • Centura Health At Home  – In collaboration with an internal physician group, telehealth video technologies (inLife and Life View, made by American TeleCare) will be used to enhance 24/7/365 call center response for Centura Health at Home patients in Denver, Colorado. The goal is to reduce re-hospitalizations and to improve quality of life for patients who have diabetes, COPD, or CHF.
  • AltaMed Health Services and Stamford Hospital – This project will expand use of RPM technology (HoneyWell’s HomMed device) with low-income seniors in East Los Angeles, California and Stamford, Connecticut who have CHF, diabetes, COPD, or hypertension. The goal is to promote better self-management habits and healthy behaviors while also establishing a new healthcare para-professional position, the “Telehealth Technician,” through community college training programs.
  • California Association for Health Services at Home Foundation – In collaboration with several home care agencies, this project will use Intel’s Health Guide to monitor patients with chronic disease conditions or those needing  post-acute care follow-up. The goal is to reduce avoidable 30-day readmissions, hospitalizations, and emergency department visits for Medi-Cal patients; and to inform public policy concerning RPM technology and Medi-Cal programs operating under federal waivers.

“RPM technologies make a huge difference in the quality of life for those living with chronic conditions,” said David Lindeman, PhD, director of the Center for Technology and Aging. “These projects will underscore the need to reform reimbursement policies and make possible wider adoption  of these technologies in public programs – Medicare and Medicaid – as well as among private insurers and health care systems.”

For more details on the projects, visit Center for Technology and Aging.

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