Authentidate Holding Corp, a provider of secure health information exchange, workflow management services and telehealth solutions, today announced that it has been selected by the University of Utah to supply the state’s "Improving Healthcare One Patient at a Time" service with its telehealth devices and solutions through its ExpressMD™ Solutions joint venture company, according to a story at marketwatch.com.
The Utah Telehealth Network (UTN) Utah Remote Monitoring Project sponsors "Improving Healthcare One Patient at a Time." Authentidate will bring its Electronic House Call™ (EHC) remote monitoring device, remote monitoring kiosk device and interactive voice response (IVR) telehealth solutions to UTN, according to the story as reported at marketwatch.com, to help patients in rural and urban areas monitor diseases like diabetes remotely.
Telehealth is the delivery of health-related services and information via telecommunications technologies.
Authentidate's remote patient monitoring devices help patients in their homes get the kind of care that was previously only available in acute and post-acute care settings, according to the story at marketwatch.com. These devices include a touch screen remote monitoring device that provides scheduled care plan reminders and allows patients to enter their own vital signs; a remote monitoring kiosk that performs the same functions as the EHC for multiple patients when they’re at a single common location like a clinic or school, and the IVR, which allows doctors to monitor patients remotely, according to the story at marketwatch.com.
"UTN is a mature telehealth network connecting hospitals, clinics and health departments. UTN provides support for a growing variety of telemedicine programs, with the aim of positively impacting patient outcomes and contributing to ongoing healthcare redesign and payment reform efforts in Utah. This project will implement new methods for chronic disease management for patients in rural and urban Utah," Dr. Marta Petersen, director of Utah Telehealth Network and vice-chair, Department of Dermatology, University of Utah School of Medicine, was quoted as saying in the story at marketwatch.com.
The UTN pilot project includes a centralized care coordinator, four clinics that will monitor 15-20 patients each, and two additional locations that will use Authentidate’s kiosk-based systems for 30 concurrent patients each, according to the press release posted at marketwatch.com.
After the pilot program finishes, project directors anticipate acquiring a care manager workstation, 60-80 patient home units, two kiosks and 15-20 IVR patients, upon successful completion of the initial implementation, according to the story at marketwatch.com.
“Funding for this project is provided by a three-year Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) Telehealth Network Grant. Other project partners that will be able to utilize Authentidate's telehealth solutions include University of Utah Health Care Stansbury Health Center and Stroke Center; the Association for Utah Community Health; Community Health Centers Inc; and the Utah Navajo Health System,” marketwatch.com reports.
"The Utah Remote Monitoring Project was selected by the HRSA and OAT to show how Telehealth programs and networks can partner to improve access to quality health care services for underserved rural and urban communities,” Dr. Sarah Woolsey, Community Health Centers, was quoted as saying in the story at marketwatch.com. “We want to demonstrate that patients will have better access to care, engage patients with diabetes mellitus and hypertension in their own management with support from the remote care system, and actually improve their health outcomes."
"We are seeking innovative ways to deliver improved care to patients who are not able to reach traditional care facilities easily on a regular basis. The Utah Remote Monitoring Project will allow patients to have access to quality health care nearer their homes," said Donna Singer, CEO of the Utah Navajo Health System, as reported at marketwatch.com.
“I am firmly convinced that healthcare reform is just going to continue to make the case for telehealth as part of an integrated care delivery model,” Stewart Ferguson, president-elect of the American Telemedicine Association, was quoted as saying at the Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center web site, nrtrc.org, which provides technical assistance in developing telehealth networks and applications to serve rural and underserved communities.
Deborah DiSesa Hirsch is an award-winning health and technology writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and IBM in her 20-year career. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
