| American TeleCare, Inc.
Announces PartnershipWith VNA of the Inland Counties
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (March 22, 2002) —
American TeleCare, Inc. (ATI) today announced that Visiting Nurse
Association of the Inland Counties (VNAIC), will enhance its disease
management program through a new telehealth project using ATI products.
This project, made possible by a grant from
the United States Department of Agriculture, involves patients with
congestive heart failure who will be enrolled in the VNAIC Disease
Management program. Each patient will receive a telehealth unit
in his or her home.
Telehealth technology is a home health care
delivery system which allows the remote provision of care, monitoring
and education to patients in their homes. The VNAIC will communicate
with the patient via telephone line from the base station in the
office at a frequency established by patient need. During the telehealth
“visit” the nurse will be able to take the patient’s
blood pressure, assess the heart and lung sounds, take a pulse oximeter
reading, as well as visually assess the patient for other symptoms.
The VNAIC, founded in 1931, is a nonprofit,
community-based home health agency governed by a volunteer board
of directors. The organization is dedicated to providing quality
medical care to homebound patients so they can stay independent
and remain at home. According to Louise Angers, manager of clinical
programs at the VNAIC, “prior to our partnership with American
TeleCare, much of our disease management follow-up support with
the patient was done by telephone. We are very excited to be able
to add this technologically sophisticated equipment to our program.
This will help us more fully utilize our RN expertise – which
is particularly important in these times of severe nursing shortages.”
“The VNA of Inland Counties is setting
the stage for other VNAs across the nation, in maximizing efficiencies
wherever they can to better serve their patients, said Randy Moore,
acting CEO for American TeleCare. “We are pleased to partner
with VNAIC in order to increase the quality and decrease the cost
of home health care.”
American TeleCare, Inc., pioneered the concept
of home telehealth in 1993. The company markets the AVIVA™
System, a FDA-cleared telemedicine monitoring system that incorporates
live audio/video with integrated electronic medical peripherals
to allow a clinician to conduct remote examinations of patients
in their homes. American TeleCare has installed the majority of
home telehealth programs throughout the world, and is the recognized
industry leader. For more information, visit www.americantelecare.com.
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