HEALTHeLINK LAUNCHES DIABETES TELEMONITORING PILOT

BUFFALO, NEW YORK – As the potential for health information technology to increase the quality of care, improve the patient’s experience in the health care system and reduce the cost of treating diseases like diabetes gains national attention, HEALTHeLINK, Western New York’s clinical information exchange, recently launched a diabetes telemonitoring pilot program. The program will focus on helping physicians to improve primary and specialty care for diabetic patients, and goals that include reducing preventable emergency room visits and hospital re-admissions.

The initiative is part of the $16.1 million Beacon Award that HEALTHeLINK received from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services in May 2010 to utilize health information technology to improve outcomes and care management for diabetic patients and support for the providers that treat them.

“The goal of our pilot is to move the needle in a positive direction for diabetes care management in Western New York, which has among the highest rates of diabetes in the country,” said Todd Norris, WNY Beacon Project Director. “With this pilot program, the physician has the ability to view trending data on their diabetic patient and change the course of treatment before larger medical issues could develop, saving the patient time and money with less frequent doctor visits and preventable trips to the emergency room,” continued Norris.

Approximately 100 diabetic patients are currently participating in the telemonitoring pilot. Using mobile devices, blood pressure, glucose readings and other vital signs are reported electronically to health care providers through HEALTHeLINK. Catholic Health’s McAuley Seton Home Care and Kaleida Health’s Visiting Nurses Association of Western New York were hired to support the telemonitoring services with home interventions with the patients when needed. Nurses and other health care professionals are charged with interpreting the readings and reporting the health information that is critical for the treating physician to see.

“In the past, a major issue of telemonitoring has been the information overload on physicians and how it impacts their regular workflow,” added Norris. “By partnering with Catholic Health Home Care Services and Kaleida’s Visiting Nurses Association to structure this pilot program, we designed a telemonitoring service that has a minimal impact for the treating physicians and a maximum impact for the community.”

HEALTHeLINK is in the process of adding a third vendor to the telemonitoring pilot, which will increase the total number of patients from 100 to 150.

About HEALTHeLINK: The not-for-profit organization was established through funding from BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, The Catholic Health System, Erie County Medical Center Corporation, Independent Health Association, Kaleida Health, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Univera Healthcare and the Health Care Efficiency and Affordability Law for New Yorkers Capital Grant Program (HEAL NY) from New York State. HEALTHeLINK also received one of the country’s largest awards as part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program.

HEALTHeLINK stakeholders include a broad representation of healthcare professionals and organizations throughout the eight-county Western New York region such as the State University of New York at Buffalo, P2 Collaborative, Chautauqua County Health Network, the WNY Rural Area Health Education Center and local county public health departments. For more information on HEALTHeLINK, visit www.wnyhealthelink.com.

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