WENATCHEE VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER BEGINS MEDICARE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT USING TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CARE FOR PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC CONDITIONS
The Health Buddy Program Uses Home Health Monitoring Technology
to Focus on Preventive Care for Patients
WENATCHEE, WA – February 1, 2006 — Wenatchee Valley Medical Center today begins enrollment for a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) demonstration project. The innovative Health Buddy Program is a physician-led model of care that uses home health monitoring technology for patients with chronic illnesses – allowing them to live, healthier, happier, longer lives, and hopefully reduce Medicare spending by providing more prompt, efficient care.
Announced in June 2005, CMS selected several organizations including a consortium led by Health Hero Network, the American Medical Group Association (AMGA), Wenatchee Valley Medical Center, and a medical group in Oregon. The medical groups will implement this preventive care management program for up to 1,600 total Medicare beneficiaries with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and/or diabetes.
“This technology and model of care empowers patients to better manage their own conditions, and gives doctors an early warning if a patient's condition is at risk of deteriorating,” said Peter Rutherford, M.D. of Wenatchee Valley Medical Center. “The number of people with chronic conditions in this area and throughout the country is quickly growing and continuing to strain both the individual and the entire health care system. We are proud to be selected to participate in this groundbreaking program, and look forward to supporting our patients and helping them feel better while reducing the costs to the health care system.”
CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., PhD stated that "the Care Management for High Cost Beneficiaries Demonstration project is designed to test different models of care to streamline what is often a fragmented health care delivery system. The launch of the Health Buddy Program is a significant step in investigating how telehealth technology can provide the best possible prevention-oriented care, improve the quality of life and reduce health care costs for our high-cost Medicare patients."
The program's key technology component is the Health Buddy system from Health Hero Network. Patients will use the Health Buddy appliance in their homes to receive a daily dialogue, which includes questions about the patient's condition and vital signs, as well as coaching and information about preventive behaviors that will keep them healthy. The patient answers by simply pressing a button on the appliance. The doctors and care managers at Wenatchee Valley Medical Center receive the patient's answers and vital signs through a secure website and are able to spot problems and intervene early, before patients get so sick that they need to go to the emergency room or be hospitalized.
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 Redwood City, 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 Wenatchee Valley Medical Center
Wenatchee Valley Medical Center has 240 physicians and midlevel providers practicing in 35 specialty and primary care areas. Their service area covers roughly 12,000 square miles, with facilities in seven North Central Washington communities. Established in 1940 as a physician-owned multi-specialty medical group practice, Wenatchee Valley Medical Center's mission is to provide their patients with the highest quality healthcare and service in a friendly and caring atmosphere. The organization is also committed to assisting in the development of one of the nation's best rural healthcare delivery systems. http://www.wvmedical.com
Contact: Mall Boyd, Director of Marketing, 509-663-8711, ext 5528, mboyd@wvmedical.com
CONTACTS:
Casey Brown 509/663-8711, Ext. 5228
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