Presbyterian Home Healthcare
Services of Albuquerque, NM report positive
outcomes using American TeleCare technology:
- Better patient outcomes
- Increased cost savings
- Increase in productivity
- Less duplication in charting
- Increased efficiency in chronic disease management
  TELEHEALTH:
An Integrated Clinical & Information System Solution
Telehealth Partner:
Kansas Care Health Services Inc., Salina, Kansas
“ATI is dedicated to developing
equipment that is cost effective
yet still is easy to install and user-friendly.”
Dale Bloomquist, Vice President,
Kansas Care Health Services Inc.
Kansas Care Health Services, Inc.
Challenge:
Kansas Care Health Services providers
spent many hours driving throughout central Kansas to conduct in-home
visits and administer patient care. Most patients were being treated
for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Others suffering
with physical and mental challenges and diabetes required medication
monitoring and administration. Many required 24-hour monitoring
and support. Their existing system was expensive, a strain on staff
and frustrating at times for patients.
“Early on, we felt American TeleCare
was committed to the research and
development needed to be an industry leader.”
Practical Solutions:
Kansas Care Health Services implemented
an American TeleCare solution with state-of-the-art telehealth products
including patient stations, a provider station and peripheral devices
all connected via video and audio monitors. With a large number
of patients in rural areas, the home health agency also required
its telehealth system operate on conventional phone lines.
Positive Outcomes:
Based Kansas Care Health Services data,
their telehealth program was successful in:
- Positioning them as a leading provider
of innovative, cost effective health care options
- Creating high levels of patient and staff
satisfaction with the technology
- Providing access to patients requiring
24-hour monitoring and support
- Producing a substantial decrease in travel
costs
- Providing patients with the convenience
and independence of care access from their homes
- Increasing job satisfaction among nurses
and health care providers as a result of less time spent traveling
and more time treating patients.
Telehealth
Partner: Marquette General Health System, Marquette, Michigan
“Telehomecare cannot replace
required home health visits. But, it does allow us to augment
our care by allowing us to visit with patients more often.”
Sally Davis, Telehealth
Program Director
Upper Peninsula Telehealth Network
Marquette General Health System
Challenge:
Marquette General Health System manages
27 health care sites throughout Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
including six home health offices serving a wide variety of clientele,
including acute care, specialist care, primary care, assisted living
and rural health clinics. The company’s patients are scattered
throughout a large geographic portion of Michigan’s Upper
Peninsula. Distance, inclement weather and increasing in-home nurse
visit costs were the three main challenges facing the organization.
The hospital is currently focusing on three
home telehealth initiatives: diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD)/congestive heart failure and stroke follow-up care.
Efforts cover an eight county area that are managed by Marquette
General Health System’s and four partnering rural hospitals’
home health offices.
Practical Solutions:
Marquette General Hospital’s telehealth
vision is to fully incorporate telehealth technologies into the
routine business and practices for the provision of health care.
The agency chose American TeleCare to help achieve its vision based
on four key factors: user-friendly product design for patients and
health care professionals; quality products; reliable products and
services; and a committed service team.
“Out patients have a greater
sense of security – they know they can easily connect with
one of our professional staff quickly and securely.”
Positive Outcomes:
Marquette General Health’s own
data proves its telehomecare program was successful in:
- Expanding its telehealth offering from
7 sites in 1995 to 27 sites in 2002
- Increasing patient encounters during
the same timeframe from 18 to 462
- Nearly doubling the number of telehealth
connections from 1999 to 2001
- Recruiting 137 new telehealth patients
in 2001
- Decreasing travel costs and risks
- Increasing patient confidence with the
“closeness” of telehealth care
Telehealth
Partner: SUN Home Health Services, Inc., Northumberland, PA, USA
“With the real-time assessment
capability available with ATI equipment we can, in many cases,
achieve the same result with a telehomecare encounter as we do
with a traditional in-person visit.”
Donald N. Wilver, Jr., Chief Human
Resources Officer, SUN Home Health Services
Challenge:
SUN Home Health Services was looking
for a cost-efficient approach to best manage its patient needs.
The health agency also wanted to educate and empower patients to
help them manage their own conditions, and eventually improve overall
patient health and satisfaction.
Practical Solutions:
SUN Home Health Services viewed American
TeleCare as the only telehealth supplier that could provide products
that enabled SUN health professionals to conduct skilled nursing
assessment – both audio and video – using telehealth
technology.
The real-time interaction capability of American
TeleCare’s patient stations and provider central station enable
SUN to supplement telehomecare encounters with in-person visits.
Peripheral devices, including blood pressure and pulse meters and
the company’s state-of-the-art Care Tone® telephonic
stethoscope, are connected to the patient station and track patient
progress, which is forwarded on to SUN health professionals.
SUN Home Health utilizes a variety
of American TeleCare telehealth products to conduct skilled nursing
assessments at the home health agency’s 11 branch offices.
“We believe that a telehomecare
encounter is a ‘skilled nursing visit’ in every sense
of the term.”
Positive Outcomes:
SUN Home Health Serivces’ own
data proves its telehomecare program is successful in:
- Saving over $31,000 in the first 11 months
by supplementing telehealth technology with in-person visits
- Increasing the level and frequency of
interactions between health care providers and patients
- Creating numerous public relations opportunities
to raise awareness for SUN and differentiate itself in the marketplace
- Increase patient satisfaction knowing
they can access their professional health care provider in a matter
of seconds
- Increase staff productivity utilizing
technology that enables them to reach more patients in a given
day
- Offering a wider variety of services,
improved care and cost-efficiency. Telehealth technology is particularly
beneficial in an episodic payment system with Medicare patients.
Telehealth Partner: University Home Care,
Greenville, NC
“Patients love the extra
attention they receive through the telehealth program. We’ve
incorporated telehomecare into their care plan so they are actually
receiving more nursing visits, which improves outcomes.”
Regina W. Saiid, RN,
University Home Care
Challenge:
University Home Care was not experiencing
any overall patient, service or operational challenges prior to
partnering with American TeleCare. However, since implementing its
telehealth services the home health agency has experienced significant
results.
Practical Solutions:
University Home Care is a hospital-based
home health agency serving eastern North Carolina. The agency operates
28 American TeleCare in-home telehealth units to treat patients
with chronic diseases, such as congestive heart failure, DM, HTN
and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and wound care.
Most are elderly, Medicare patients living in rural North Carolina.
After taking part in a beta test of a new
American TeleCare system several years ago and experiencing positive
results, University Home Care immediately began building a solid
telehealth capability with American TeleCare products.
“Patients don’t like to
have their at-home patient stations removed – it’s
like their ‘security blanket.’”
Positive Outcomes:
University Home Care’s own data
proves its telehomecare program was successful in:
- Producing cost savings by supplementing
in-home visits with telehealth encounters
- Improving nurse and health care provider
productivity and efficiency
- Increasing patient satisfaction and the
sense of around-the-clock security
- Market differentiation as the leader
in the region with telehealth capabilities
- Improved “bottom line” performance
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