Newswise — Medical group members of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today begin enrollment for a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) demonstration project. The innovative Health Buddy Program is a physician-led model of care that uses home health monitoring technology for patients who are struggling with severe chronic illness—allowing them to live, healthier, happier, longer lives and reduce Medicare spending by preventing hospitalizations.
Announced in July 2005, CMS awarded the project to several organizations including a consortium led by AMGA, Health Hero Network, Bend Memorial Clinic, Oregon, and Wenatchee Valley Medical Center, Washington. The medical groups will implement this preventive care management program for up to 1,600 total Medicare beneficiaries with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and/or diabetes. "The Health Buddy Program will demonstrate that patients can receive excellent care from their physicians when supported by comprehensive care management combined with information technology," said Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., CAE, AMGA's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward to our member groups pioneering a new model of care that is continuous, proactive, effective, and based on an existing relationship between the patients and their physicians."
CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., stated, "The Care Management for High Cost Beneficiaries Demonstration project is designed to test different models of care to streamline what is often a fragmented health care delivery system. The launch of the Health Buddy Program is a significant step in investigating how telehealth technology can provide the best possible prevention-oriented care, improve the quality of life and reduce health care costs for our high-cost Medicare patients."
The key technology component of the Health Buddy Program (formerly known as ACCENT) is the Health Buddy system from Health Hero Network. Patients will use the Health Buddy appliance in their homes to receive a daily dialogue, which includes questions about the patient's condition and vital signs, as well as coaching and information about preventive behaviors that will keep them healthy. The patient answers by simply pressing a button on the appliance. The doctors and care managers at the groups receive the patient's answers and vital signs through a secure Web site and are able to spot problems and intervene early, before patients get so sick that they need to go to the emergency room or be hospitalized.
The Health Buddy Program at the medical groups begins today and is slated to last three years. Selected Medicare patients already under the care of each group will be invited to join the program. Project coordinators and care managers will then enroll and manage the patients with the active cooperation of medical group physicians.
About Health Hero NetworkHealth Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy® system for health improvement. The Health Buddy system serves as the interface between patients at home and care providers, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. The system includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification, and prevention, the Health Buddy system improves the quality of care. Based in Redwood City, California, Health Hero Network's systems are protected by over 55 issued US patents. http://www.healthhero.com.
About American Medical Group AssociationThe American Medical Group Association (AMGA) represents medical groups, including some of the nation's largest, most prestigious integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA advocates for the multispecialty medical group model of healthcare delivery and for the patients served by medical groups through innovation and information sharing, benchmarking, leadership development, and continuous striving to improve patient care. The members of AMGA deliver health care to more than 50 million patients in 42 states, including 15 million capitated lives. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for medical groups providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs and publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. For more information, visit AMGA's Web Site.
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