The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has selected a consortium of Health Hero Network, Redwood City, California, the American Medical Group Association (AMGA), and medical groups in Washington and Oregon to spearhead a demonstration program in which physicians will use health information technology to monitor patients at home with severe chronic conditions. The medical groups selected are Bend Memorial Clinic in Bend, Oregon, and Wenatchee Valley Clinic in Wenatchee, Washington.

This project started February 1, 2006 and is slated to last three years. Selected Medicare beneficiaries with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and/or diabetes already under the care of each group are invited to join the program. Project coordinators and care managers enroll and manage patients with active cooperation of medical group physicians.

The key technology component of the Health Buddy Program 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 website 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 goal for the Health Buddy Program is to demonstrate that the medical group-driven, technology-based model can achieve dramatic improvements in quality of care and quality of life for patients with severe chronic disease while generating significant cost savings both for Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayers. The long-range goal is to see policymakers adopt policy changes that will allow other medical groups and healthcare providers to adopt the physician-driven, technology-based model of caring preventively for patients with severe chronic illness, and to spread the model to other AMGA-member medical groups, which serve approximately 50 million Americans.

To view the newsletter (Bend, Wenatchee) or for more information please feel free to contact Julie Sanderson-Austin, VP Quality, Management and Research at jsanderson-austin@amga.org.

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