California Care Technology Blog

iHealthBeat: GE, Microsoft Team Up for Joint Venture on Health Care Software

Eric Dowdy — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:57:02 +0000

[From the December 8, 2011 issue of iHealthBeat produced by the California Healthcare Foundation.]

General Electric and Microsoft have announced a joint venture to create a “Windows-like” software platform that the companies say will defragment health IT and reduce U.S. health costs by $500 billion annually, the New York Times‘ “Bits” reports (Lohr, “Bits,” Times, 12/8).

Venture Details

The yet-to-be named initiative — which will be formed in the first half of 2012 — will integrate Microsoft’s health management software with GE’s clinical software and health information exchange products (Layne, Bloomberg/Seattle Times, 12/7).

The project will be based near Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash. The companies expect the initiative to employ about 700 staff from both companies (Lee, Modern Healthcare, 12/8).

Michael Simpson — vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare IT — will serve as CEO of the new venture (Goedert, Health Data Management, 12/8).

Project Goals

According to “Bits,” the project aims to create a standardized operating system platform that could run targeted performance management applications to identify rising health care costs and quality lapses.

The platform would make it easier for health care providers to conduct individual patient monitoring and population health tracking (“Bits,” Times, 12/8). For example, a primary care physician could access information on a patient with diabetes to see if the patient has visited a podiatrist to check for blood flow problems.

Simpson said, “Part of the problem in healthcare is there’s so many doctors; there’s so much information to bring together. There’s not a single place for that.” Simpson added that the platform will facilitate “joining systems and aggregating the data together so that people can make better decisions” (Malone, Reuters, 12/7).

iHealthBeat: Telehealth Can Reduce Patient Mortality Risk, U.K. Study Finds

Eric Dowdy — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:55:13 +0000

[From the December 8, 2011 issue of iHealthBeat produced by the California Healthcare Foundation.]

The use of telehealth technology can reduce patient mortality rates by 45%, according to a study by the United Kingdom’s Department of Health, Becker’s Hospital Review reports.

Study Details

The findings are based on results from the U.K. Department of Health’s Whole System Demonstrator program, which launched in 2008 to examine the use of telehealth services for individuals with chronic conditions (Rodak, Becker’s Hospital Review, 12/6).

The study followed about 6,000 patients with diabetes, coronary heart disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at 238 health care practices in the U.K. over a two-year period.

The study evaluated:

Cost effectiveness;
How organizational factors influenced telehealth adoption;
Outcomes, such as quality of life;
Use of services; and
User and professionals’ experience (Mearian, Computerworld, 12/7).

Study Results

According to the study, using remote monitoring technology can lead to:

A 20% reduction in emergency admissions;
A 15% reduction in emergency department visits;
A 14% reduction in elective admissions; and
A 14% reduction in bed days.

The study noted, “Going forward, this evidence gives us confidence that we can transform the way services are delivered and ensure that we use appropriate technology to put people at the [center], and in control” (Hitchcock, London Guardian, 12/6).

RELEASE: Announcements from Leading Technology Companies Occur at AgeTech CA Conference

Eric Dowdy — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:33:36 +0000

Pasadena, California – November 15, 2011 AgeTech California, a joint initiative between the California Association for Health Services at Home (CAHSAH) and Aging Services of California, will host California’s premier provider technology event – the Annual AgeTech California Conference & Technology Expo at the Hilton Hotel in Pasadena, California from 8am-5:30pm. Attendees of this conference will learn from leading experts about “Tech-enabled Care Management at Home: Our Future Imperative.” Experts will provide cutting edge information on technology-enabled care and business models that reposition wellness and health care in the place people call home, saving scarce resources while delivering the most satisfying products and services to older Californians. In addition, twenty industry technology companies will showcase their products and services in this intimate setting.

“As we age, our technologies can become even more valuable to us, but it is not about the next ‘gifted gadget.’ Instead, the most useful technologies will be those that present intuitive and unobtrusive solutions that foster connectedness while preserving autonomy and independence,” said Dr. Joseph Smith, Chief Medical and Science Officer at the San Diego-based West Wireless Health Institute. Dr. Smith will be delivering the closing keynote presentation.

Media is invited to attend an interactive lunch session where exhibitors will discuss new product launches and advances in eCare technology. Product announcements include:

AOD Software becoming the first and currently only Electronic Health Record to be CCHIT Certified® 2011 LTPAC. This will advance the progress of Electronic Health Records to meet the achievements of other areas of healthcare like inpatient and ambulatory settings. This makes long term care well positioned to participate in the future of Accountable Care Organizations and interoperability (AOD Press Release)
Dakim BrainFitness has upgraded their touch screen platform to showcase its award-winning brain boosting program (Dakim Press Release)
GrandCare’s collaboration with CoroHealth, providing musical therapy for seniors (GrandCare Press Release)

The interactive luncheon interviews will be facilitated by Cindy Campbell, Associate Director, Operational Consulting of Fazzi Associates, and Tim Rowan, Editor of the HomeCare Technology Report. In a statement by Cindy Campbell, she discusses the necessity of affordable and accessible healthcare delivery systems supported by available technologies:

“Mounting levels of chronic disease represent an unmet and human need for care management. Within this need, there is a growing divide in quality healthcare delivery between the haves and have-nots. More than half ofbankruptcies in the U.S. are being driven by healthcare cost, many of those in the insured population. Solving this problem requires affordable solutions. A clear and accessible path for today is to move care to the least expensive and least restrictive location – the patient’s home – whenever possible. Fully leveraging the existing expertise of home health and hospice providers and eCare technologies can result in more effective, less expensive, more accessible care”.

Tim Rowan goes on to say:

“Today’s elderly may express a strong preference to remain in their homes as they age and need more and more health care services but the Baby Boomer generation will demand it when they reach their 70’s and 80’s. Fortunately, advances in home-based healthcare technologies make it possible to deliver high-quality care in the patient’s home at a fraction of costs incurred at in-patient facilities. There is legitimate reason for concern, however, as private and government payers continue to be slow to acknowledge the superior care quality and net savings that accrue from the use of in-home “eCare” technologies. Forcing avoidable hospital admissions, which always follow when unattended conditions worsen, foolishly sacrifices long-term cost reductions for short-term savings”.

Beth Hennessey, Executive Director of Integrated Chronic Care with Sutter Care at Home will deliver the morning keynote presentation. She comments on the potential of technology driven care models for chronic care management:

“We advocate that chronic care management be the starting point of national healthcare reform by re-focusing home and community providers as an ‘army at the ready’, utilizing a proven high-touch, high-tech care delivery model. With the implementation of this model, homecare providers across the nation have successfully demonstrated positive outcomes in patient experience, quality of care, and affordability. Imperative to this model’s success is the integration of technology supporting the needs of patients, families, and providers across the healthcare system”.

Scott Peifer, AgeTech California’s executive director surmises that “Ultimately, such models are the future imperative for sustainable wellness, sustainable resources and sustainable aging services and home care organizations.”

The interactive lunch will be held from 12PM-1PM and media interviews will occur after the lunch in the expo hall and in the San Jose Board Room. Contact Kristy Oriol to schedule interviews, 916-469-3383. For more information on the conference, visit the event web site.

ABOUT AGETECH CALIFORNIA

AgeTech California was established to promote the use of advanced health and wellness technologies by aging services and home care providers throughout California. Its primary focus is on technologies that enable older Californians’ aging in “connected independence” with safety and security, personal health maintenance, successful management of chronic disease, early detection of illness, and prevention of acute episodes. Such technologies include telehealth, electronic health records, sensor telemonitoring, remote medication management, safety technologies, and cognitive fitness among others that enable eCare and personal wellness while enhancing caregiving and cost efficiency. AgeTech is a programmatic partnership of Aging Services of California and the California Association for Health Services at Home (CAHSAH).

D ownload the PDF Version of this Press Release

Center for Technology and Aging Awards Mobile Health (mHealth) Grants

Eric Dowdy — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:42:34 +0000

The Center for Technology and Aging (techandaging.org), with funding from The SCAN Foundation, is investing a total of $477,150 in one‐year grants among five organizations that will demonstrate the best ways to implement mobile health (mHealth) technologies for older adults with chronic health conditions.

Using mHealth technologies for health monitoring could save from $1.96 billion to $5.83 billion in healthcare costs by the year 2014, according to Juniper Research. The five grantees are innovative public and private health and social services provider organizations that are each forging a different path toward mHealth‐enabled healthcare quality and cost improvement.

CalOptima, Orange County, Calif., ‐ Preventing or delaying transitions of Medicare members with heart disease to higher levels of care settings using mHealth and wireless solutions.
Family Services Agency of San Francisco ‐ Using a cloud‐based electronic health record with a tablet‐based touchscreen assessment and care planning tool to improve assessment, service coordination and outcome evaluation for frail and isolated, low‐income seniors, including some with behavioral health or substance abuse issues.
Front Porch Center for Technology Innovation and Wellbeing, Los Angeles ‐ Addressing medication adherence among active, independent older adults using a medication adherence app for cell phones.
HealthInsight, Utah ‐ Using a SMS‐based mHealth intervention to improve diabetes education and care management in older adults.
Sharp HealthCare Foundation, San Diego – Managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care by remotely monitoring patients.

“We’re undertaking this initiative just as the mHealth field is rapidly growing and demonstrating significant potential to improve care processes, expand access to care, augment other home care technologies, and reduce the costs of care,” said David Lindeman, PhD, director of the Center for Technology and Aging. HealthInsight and Sharp are also Beacon Community Program (bit.ly/c3OHc0) participants, supported by grants from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to “demonstrate the ability of health information technology to transform local healthcare systems.” (For more information: San Diego Beacon Community; Utah IC3 Beacon Community)

In conjunction with the grants, the Center for Technology and Aging released “mHealth Technologies: Applications to Benefit Older Adults,” a position paper that discusses how cell phones, smart phones, laptop and tablet computers, and other mobile‐enabled devices are being used to help millions of older Americans ‐‐ as well as their physicians and caregivers ‐‐ manage chronic disease, use medications properly, avoid safety risks (e.g. fall detection), access online health information, and stay well.

The grant program’s goal is to practically demonstrate effective approaches to using mHealth in a variety of settings and circumstances that result in better quality healthcare at a lower cost. “These technologies can and should be more rapidly adopted by healthcare providers and patients because they reduce the use of ER’s and hospitals by older adults, diminish the need for those with chronic illness to move to intensive higher‐cost care settings, and lesson the burden on family and professional caregivers,” said Lindeman.

The Center for Technology and Aging is the national resource for expertise in the use of patient‐centered technologies for older adults. CTA supports the adoption and diffusion of technology‐enabled care that is patient‐centered, coordinated, efficient and effective. CTA is focused on four areas of opportunity that can transform lives: medication optimization, remote patient monitoring, care transitions, and mobile health. Established with funding from The SCAN Foundation, CTA is affiliated with the Public Health Institute in Oakland, CA.

Susan Estrada: The market is ready, but are the vendors?

Eric Dowdy — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:26:03 +0000

Why is it so difficult to get AIP technology in the door? Senior living providers and senior home care agencies want to adopt eldercare technology into their daily activities. AgeTech California is a joint effort is to assist providers in implementing proven, cost-effective technologies that will increase the efficiency of care and the quality of life for clients receiving care.

At Mary Furlong’s recent Boomer Venture Summit, Joanne Handy from Aging Services of California, one of the AgeTechCA partners, presented a slide that every AIP tech vendor should heed.

Read Susan’s blog post in its entirety at: http://www.ageinplacetech.com/blog/market-ready-are-vendors

HealthyCal.org: Technology Might Give Elders Independence

Eric Dowdy — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:45:26 +0000

By Matt Perry

Two generations of computer-savvy gamers and networkers have teased their parents and grandparents about a lack of technological skill, but the coming “silver tsunami” of aging Americans may claim ultimate victory by conjuring up the wizards of digital health.

In what is being called “connected independence,” more seniors are staying right where they want to be – at home – where they receive medical care assisted by technology that monitors chronic disease, provides early detection of illness, reminds seniors to take pills, coordinates care among providers, and may even improve cognitive function using “brain fitness” programs.

As Baby Boomers hit retirement age, both homes and assisted-living facilities are being outfitted with new technology that reduces medical costs, comforts patients, and limits the time relatives must take to supervise their elders.

One of the most immediate and powerful uses of technology in healthcare – often termed telehealth – is Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM). Home devices monitor cardiac function, glucose levels, blood pressure, and other vital signs. Patients fearful of recurring episodes of cardiac arrest or diabetes are relieved to know that they have constant supervision.

Also gaining popularity are devices for “medication adherence” – taking the proper dose of prescription drugs at the right time.

Unlike the latest Apple product release, however, awareness about technical solutions for the aging is relatively scarce – for both the public and doctors.

“We find the awareness level of telehealth solutions is pretty low,” said Lynn Redington, senior program director for the Center for Technology and Aging. Headquartered in Oakland, the national center increases awareness and interest of technology solutions for the aging largely through grants.

That awareness level is sure to rise along with the age of Californians. The state estimates that by 2040 more than 10 million of its 54 million citizens will be aged 65 and over – one in five.

While these figures terrify healthcare providers already overwhelmed with elderly patients needing round-the-clock care, others view this tidal wave as an opportunity to streamline healthcare delivery and sell products.

At the Oregon Center for Aging and Technology, participants test new technology in real-world living situations.

The center’s Living Laboratory monitors 30 Portland-area residents in their homes who test new monitoring and assistance products to see how well they work, and whether they’re ready to market.

The goal is to track habits of health and movement to give caregivers a better health picture than the simple snapshot in time of an office visit.

“The most useful comparison (of health) is how that elder is doing compared to themselves six months ago,” said Tracy Zitzelberger, the lab’s administrative director. Instead of providing doctors an imprecise verbal health history, elder patients will now have precise data so doctors can provide truly personalized medicine.

Far from being averse to technology, she says, the elderly embrace it, especially when it improves their health and keeps them connected with distant friends and relatives.

“The kids say ‘This is kind of Big Brother,’” said Zitzelberger, “but elders get it.”

The man seen by many as the evangelist behind this movement is Eric Dishman, Intel’s director of health innovation, who in the 1990’s saw how technology could cure many ailments in the elder care health system.

Voted one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business 2011 by Fast Company magazine, Dishman has said that modern healthcare delivery is founded on a wildly outdated notion from the 1850s: that patients must meet doctors face-to-face.

At Intel, Dishman has supervised thousands of hours of ethnographic studies, visiting homes to find out what motivated and worried patients.

Colleague Douglas Busch said these “ethnographic harvest sessions” gave Intel a “deep sense of what these products need to do.”

During the same period, General Electric’s health division saw the same worldwide business opportunities in treating the aging with new technology.

So in January, the two corporate giants formed Intel-GE Care Innovations, where Busch now serves as chief operating officer.

Headquartered in Roseville, a suburb of Sacramento, the firm currently offers four products: a monitor that collects vital signs, a device that tracks patient movement and provides alerts if an elder falls, a wellness and social networking hub for assisted-living facilities, and a reader for dyslexics that translates text to spoken words.

Busch says the feedback the firm gets from patients who use their vital sign monitor is often dramatic. “It feels like they have a better relationship with their care provider,” he said, with many seeing it as an essential component of their family’s health. And Busch says online wellness portals, even in smaller retirement communities, “help build a tighter community.”

There are many companies already addressing what Busch calls “a nascent market,” with more on the way. “If you look at the demographics, the numbers are mind-bogglingly large,” said Busch. “The market opportunity is attracting a lot of people.”

But there are still several obstacles ahead.

The costs of these technologies generally aren’t covered by Medicare, and only rarely by health insurers. Most family doctors aren’t tech-savvy enough to promote at-home technologies. In some cases, there’s the potential that systems could harm patients if they don’t work properly. Finally, there are concerns that technological gadgets replace human interaction, leaving the elderly more cut off from society at a time of great vulnerability.

Redington said concerns about technology causing further isolation are largely groundless. Typically, patients are also in contact with nurses or doctors by phone and see remote monitors as “sort of a guardian angel.”

Many studies have already shown the cost savings in patient monitoring to prevent recurring episodes of chronic disease like heart failure, and health experts say it’s only a matter of time before health plans see the savings potential.

“It’s in the best interests of private health plans to apply these tools to control costs,” said Busch. Busch said Medicare executives will likely follow the lead of health plans if they start to reimburse for these new digital tools.

Provisions of the Affordable Care Act that take effect in 2014 “are encouraging,” Busch added, because they reward both innovation and prevention.

“You can prevent a hospitalization that will save you thousands.” Zitzelberger agreed.

The longer aging Americans stay at home, the less expensive the cost of healthcare. Busch estimated that costs rise dramatically from the $10/day for providing care at home to $10,000/day in an Intensive Care Unit. Between these extremes are costs for hospitals, assisted living, and skilled nursing.

Keeping the elderly in their homes is beneficial to everyone concerned about costs: families, healthcare officials, and government policymakers trying to balance budgets.

Telehealth also helps patients with transportation woes; monitoring healthcare conditions at home removes the strain from family members who often need to take time off from work, and often escalates family tensions.

Technology can “alleviate a lot of the running around that people have to do,” said Murch.

AgeTech California is a collaborative effort of home care providers seeking to make technology-based health services available to seniors who want to live independently for longer periods.

California has “by far the highest” number of family caregivers nationwide, said AgeTech executive director Scott Peifer, and they spend on average $5,500 of their own money yearly, while suffering from further economic and personal stress when the conditions of their patients worsen. Faced with reduced reimbursements and higher transportation costs, family caregivers can use at-home monitoring to help them make smart interventions to prevent recurring episodes, especially of chronic disease.

The national readmission rate for patients within 30 days of hospital discharge is 18%, Peifer said, with more than three-quarters of these preventable. The cost to Medicare alone in 2004 was $17.4 billion.

The Eskaton assisted living community, a Sacramento-area neighbor and technology partner of Intel-GE Care Innovations, currently uses “passive monitoring” to track patterns of movement by its residents.

“If a resident starts going to the bathroom 10 times a night maybe they’re developing a urinary tract infection,” said Todd Murch, Eskaton’s president and CEO.

In 2008, Eskaton built a demonstration home with design elements focused on independent living. The home caught the attention of several technology partners, and changed Eskaton’s approach to technology solutions for the aging.

“We started thinking different strategically,” said Murch.

Despite Murch’s enthusiasm about technological solutions for the aging, he says adoption has to be done incrementally. Some residents, for example, want to know if there’s a camera in their monitoring systems. There is not, says Murch.

Murch is most excited about digital “health portals” that allow residents to connect with families and research to expand their sense of belonging using online wellness hubs. At Eskaton, many seniors are excitedly using Skype to connect with distant friends and relatives. The key to better health, says Murch, is keeping clients engaged and connected to their surroundings.

Several telecommunications companies are fueling the spread of mHealth – disseminating health information using mobile applications like cell phones and iPads.

Redington says California is on par with a handful of other states in its advancement of technology to address health issues, pointing to San Diego in particular.

San Diego is home to both Qualcomm, which is creating health applications for mobile devices, and the West Wireless Health Institute, a nonprofit research organization.

The city also received more than $15 million as one of 17 “beacon communities” to improve its health information technology from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Collectives of concerned healthcare groups and businesses are sprouting up everywhere, most recently the Global Coalition on Aging, which plans to foster a better understanding of the “new middle age” — Americans between 55 and 75 – as both healthy and wealthy contributors to society.

With charter members including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, the coalition wants governments and businesses to see this demographic as both powerful and important contributors to the workplace and economy.

When the UC Davis Medical Center opens its Telehealth Resource Center next summer, the four-story, $36 million building will be used to train “the next generation of clinicians how to use home telehealth technologies (which) expand the reach of healthcare and can help address important needs in a rapidly increasing population,” said Thomas Nesbitt, associate vice chancellor for Strategic Technologies and Alliances at UC Davis.

Busch says the future promise of technology to revolutionize healthcare for the aging is enormous. He hopes that going to a doctor to have vital signs checked, or waiting in line to have a prescription filled, will seem arcane.

“My hope over the next 25 years is that the way we do healthcare and age in our home changes so we can look back and say ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe we did that.’”

Source: http://www.healthycal.org/technology-might-give-elders-independence.html

Health IT Must Include Senior Quality of Life Technology

Eric Dowdy — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:47:32 +0000

Forbes says health IT is hot — although not yet profitable. A title of a Forbes article caught my eye recently: “Health IT entrepreneurs, now is your time.” It went on to note that “the sector is being energized thanks in large part to government subsidies which reward doctors and hospitals for buying electronic health records (EHRs).” The article then talks about VC investment plans, who’s investing, and offers a few examples of startup ideas. Think about this request from the “government’s Health Data Initiative, which invites entrepreneurs to develop applications based on their mounds of health data collected by the government.” Oh yeah, that would be extremely helpful to the government — perhaps to refine rankings focused on hospital readmissions – which really are about seniors — heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia readmissions that cost Medicare $12 billion per year. But think what it means to have better reports, more rankings, more granular punishment to providers. That’s good for the government — under the theory that if one reports and punishes at the far end of the health care process, perhaps the beginning of the process of care will just fix itself.

Read the full entry from “Aging in Place Technology Watch” here: Health IT must include senior quality of life technology.

Save the Date! Technology Conference & Expo

Eric Dowdy — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:42:19 +0000

AgeTech California will be holding its second Technology Conference & Expo on November 15, 2011 at the Hilton Pasadena in Pasadena, CA. The year’s theme, “Tech-Enabled Care Management at Home: Our Future Imperative,” reflects the growing need among home care and aging services providers to expand their use of care technologies. Attendees will learn how to design and implement eCare@Home (TM) chronic care management services to maintain the health and independence of older adults and avoid preventable health care costs from experts with successful business models. Gain current insights on keys to successful technology integration and implementation, and hear new project outcomes and ROI. This one-day event focus on the strategic and practical information you need to leverage technology and plan the services essential for the future of home care and aging services.

If you would like to submit session ideas, AgeTech is currently accepting proposals. Download the Call for Sessions here. (All submissions must be received by June 30, 2011.)

GE & Intel Launch “Care Innovations”

Eric Dowdy — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:25:05 +0000

On January 3, 2011, GE and the Intel Corporation announced that their new healthcare venture, named “Intel-GE Care Innovations LLC” (“Care Innovations”) has officially launched. Care Innovations will develop technologies that support healthy, independent living at home and in senior housing communities. The executive leadership team and board of managers are now in place to support the new company’s transition and future growth.

The formation of Care Innovations follows the success of the healthcare alliance between Intel and GE, announced April 2009. Care Innovations, which combines assets and the expert teams and operations of both GE Healthcare’s Home Health division and Intel’s Digital Health Group, has received final regulatory clearances and is now fully operational. The jointly owned company’s focus is to help address some of the largest issues facing society today, including the aging population, the growing number of people with chronic conditions, and increasing healthcare costs. The market segments for telehealth and home health monitoring are predicted to grow to an estimated $7.7 billion by 2012.

“Our vision as we launch this exciting new company is for Care Innovationsto positively affect millions of people by providing innovative products and services that will enable new models of care,” said Louis Burns, CEO of Care Innovations. “Our passionate leadership team and board of managers will help drive the business strategy necessary to improve quality of care and patient empowerment while helping reduce healthcare costs through new technologies.”

Burns is joined by an experienced senior leadership team with a breadth of knowledge in healthcare, business strategy, sales and marketing, and product development in the company’s core focus areas: disease management, independent living and assistive technologies. The leadership team includes:

Louis J. Burns, CEO
Douglas F. Busch, Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer
Lauren Salata, Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer
Michael Bassett, General Manager of Assistive Technologies
Becky Davis, Director of Corporate Marketing
Eric Dishman, Director of Health Policy
Aaron Duerksen, General Manager of Disease Management
Bonnie Norman, Director of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs
James Pursley, General Manager of Independent Living
Randall Swanson, Vice President, Business Operations

In addition to Burns, GE and Intel have also appointed four board members to Care Innovations to represent the interests of the parent companies. Senior Vice President of GE and President and CEO of GE Healthcare Systems, Omar Ishrak, is chairman of the board for the company. GE has also appointed Michael Jones, executive vice president of Business Development for GE International, as a board member. Intel board members include Robert Crooke, corporate vice president and general manager of Intel’s Atom and System-on-a-Chip Development Group (ASDG); and Patricia Murray, senior vice president and director of human resources.

Care Innovations markets remote patient monitoring, independent living concepts and assistive technologies, such as the Intel® Health Guide, Intel® Reader and GE QuietCare®. The company is also continuing to develop healthcare IT innovations which will help enable healthcare providers to drive toward lower costs and a higher quality of life for patients worldwide.

Visit www.careinnovations.com for more information.

SeniorBridge and VRI Launch TeleCare Management Offering for Seniors with Multiple Chronic Conditions

Eric Dowdy — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:50:21 +0000

VRI, a leading provider of in-home health monitoring systems, and SeniorBridge, a national health management provider, announced a service that combines remote vital sign monitoring with face-to-face oversight from professional geriatic care managers. The program is designed to reduce hospitalization of chronically ill seniors by identifying warning signs early and indentifying solutions to address medical, functional and psychosocial needs. Read more here.