- Remote patient management systems to be used in elderly care centers and home healthcare
- Improved quality of life and lower cost of care
- Flexible clinical programming praised
Palo Alto, CA., October 2009 - Robert Bosch Healthcare, Inc. has been selected by Connections365, a leading provider of telehealth services, to supply its Health Buddy™ and ViTelCare™ remote patient management systems for patients in senior care facilities and residential apartments. “Bosch is pleased that Connections365 has selected our products as part of its comprehensive telehealth service,” said Derek Newell, vice president of Robert Bosch Healthcare Inc. After an extensive evaluation of numerous
manufacturers and telemonitoring systems, Connections365 chose Bosch based on three key criteria: technology, simplicity, and cost. “We were also sold on Bosch because of their people and strong clinical focus,” said Thomas Reddy, Connections365 CEO. “In telehealth”, he added, “it’s not just about the technology. Having solid, flexible clinical programming is also a key component.”
Connections365 offers a comprehensive telehealth service to operators of facilities for the elderly, such as independent residential communities, assisted living centers, and rehabilitation facilities, as well as to home healthcare providers. The service combines the use of remote patient monitoring with special call centers staffed by specialists who gather and evaluate patient data and decide when patients should be referred to their medical care provider for intervention. Connections365 will soon implement Bosch remote patient management systems at a number of key facilities, including Colorado-based Columbine Health Systems, Benedictine Health Systems in Minneapolis, the Living Community of St. Joseph (MO), as well as the Central Coast Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) in Monterey (CA).
“Thousands of patients have benefited from the Health Buddy and ViTelCare systems through our programs with the Veterans Health Administration and through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Now these same benefits will be available to a broader population of seniors,” Newell pointed out. In assisted living centers and independent residential apartments, Connections365 will use the ViTelCare Kiosk for patient monitoring. Placed in a central location within the facility, the kiosk enables
patients to enter vital sign measurements and other information about their symptoms via a simple question-and-answer scenario, and transmits this data securely and confidentially to the call center.
Patients being discharged from rehabilitation centers, on the other hand, will be offered the Health Buddy System. They will receive the Health Buddy appliance, a compact device with a display and simple four-button interface. Each day, patients use the device at home to answer a series of questions about their health and symptoms. The data is sent over a telephone line or Ethernet connection to a secure data center, where it is accessed by specialized call-center staff. The Health Buddy Desktop application is designed to quickly risk-stratify, enabling timely intervention by healthcare professionals before a patient’s condition becomes acute. Patients are also given information and advice which helps them to better manage their conditions. The goal is to improve quality of life, enable seniors to remain independent longer, and also lower costs of care.
During a Connections365 pilot program, patients were discharged from a rehabilitation center and provided with a Health Buddy appliance for use at home. Many patients chose to continue using it for healthcare support after the initial recovery period.
Contact person for press inquiries:
Rick Mendez
phone +1 650-690-9127
