| American TeleCare®,
Inc. to Co-Develop Industry Standard Electronic Data Interface
EDEN PRAIRE, Minn., October 28, 2002 -- American
TeleCare, the leading provider of video-based home telehealth systems,
announced today their agreement to collaborate with McKesson Information
Solutions and Presbyterian Home Healthcare Services to develop and
install a non-proprietary HL7 electronic data interface scheduled
to be released to the public by December 31, 2002. This interface
will enable the sharing of select patient data among a variety of
software platforms. Other vendor’s software applications will
be able to utilize this interface to interact with American TeleCare’s
telehealth systems.
The integration process, or automatic sharing
of data, has long been considered a barrier in deploying wide scale
telehealth programs. The interface specification will address both
patient registration and collection of clinical observations. Patient
registration data has been part of the HL7 definition for several
years and McKesson was instrumental in developing this standard.
The expanded HL7 development will also be designed for acceptance
as a standard and made publicly available for widespread use in
software applications for use in any application where telehealth
systems need to share information with electronic medical records.
Most homecare software systems create an
electronic medical record for each patient. When multiple, unrelated
clinical systems are utilized today, healthcare providers face the
challenge of being forced to work with “partial” clinical
records that do not include all relevant patient information, thus
increasing overhead expenses to manage this data.
Telehealth is successfully being utilized
in the remote management of chronically ill patients. Results have
been extremely successful including the ability to eliminate hospital
readmissions and emergency services. American TeleCare offers a
full range of telehealth solutions, including systems which allow
healthcare providers to conduct live interactive video sessions
with patients and obtain vital sign measurements including blood
pressure, pulse rate, blood oxygen levels, blood sugar levels, and
the patient’s weight. In addition, live heart and lung sounds
are transmitted while simultaneously interacting with the patient
during the video session. All of this is accomplished using standard
phone lines that are normally found in patient homes and clinical
settings.
Presbyterian Home Healthcare Services, New
Mexico’s largest provider of home health and hospice services,
is the first to use the new interface. “In order to enhance
safety, quality and productivity, our nurses and caregivers must
have easy access to complete clinical information as they’re
making treatment decisions,” said Lesley Cryer, homecare executive
director. “Like other agencies that serve large, geographically
dispersed populations, Presbyterian is expanding its use of telehealth
services as a way to improve quality and manage costs. A single
integrated patient record is vital to our success.”
“Our business strategy is focused
on the needs of our customers, said Randall Moore, MD, MBA, American
TeleCare’s Chairman, President and CEO. “This includes
the ability for customers to utilize our systems and have the patient
data reside on one common platform, which will further improve the
overall operation of their telehealth programs. Eliminating today’s
need to enter the same data into different software applications
will increase staff efficiencies and reduce the risk of input error.”
About Presbyterian
Presbyterian serves to improve the health of individuals, families
and communities. Presbyterian Healthcare Services was founded in
New Mexico in 1908, and is the state's largest locally owned, not-for-profit
healthcare organization. It includes seven hospitals as well as
family healthcare centers, home healthcare, outpatient centers,
inpatient care, air and ground ambulance services, a physician network
and a statewide managed care plan. Presbyterian employs more than
7,000 people throughout New Mexico.
About American TeleCare, Inc.
American TeleCare® pioneered the concept of home telehealth
in 1993. The company markets the AVIVA® System, an FDA-cleared
telemedicine monitoring system that incorporates live audio/video
with integrated electronic medical peripherals. Clinicians use American
TeleCare systems to conduct remote clinical examinations of patients.
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
or call 800-323-6667.
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