Permanente Medical Group to Conduct Study on Web-Based Program for Heart Failure Patients
The Southern California Permanente Medical Group, a physician group that provides medical care and services to members of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and Health Hero Network, a remote monitoring company based in Mountain View, announced plans Tuesday to study the performance of an online disease management program for patients with congestive heart failure. The program, developed by Health Hero, uses Health Buddy, a Web-based technology, to provide patients with daily reminders about diet, exercise and medication compliance and monitors their symptoms. Health Buddy transmits clinical information from patients' homes to caregivers and alerts case managers when patient symptoms deviate from acceptable ranges. In the study, researchers will test the performance of the Health Hero program in a number of areas -- such as quality of care, nurse productivity and the health status, self-care knowledge and satisfaction of patients. The study also will measure the effect that the program has on patient outcomes when used in conjunction with a separate Permanente Medical Group disease management program for heart failure patients (Health Hero Network release, 4/2).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.