A remote monitoring program by University of Pennsylvania Health System to better track patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction once they are discharged has received $4.8 million in funding from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Improving medication adherence with projected savings of $2.7 million by CMS is the goal of the coronary artery disease program. Led by Dr. David Asch and Dr. Kevin Volpp, it will use telemonitoring, visual and audio reminders, and include patients in the Philadelphia and New Jersey regions. The funding will cover the cost of training 21 social workers who will be retrained to be “engagement advisers” and will get family and friends to help with patient support.
Penn Medicine chief medical officer Bill Hanson identified telehealth for heart failure patients among a number of digital health projects it has been developing in an interview with MedCity News earlier this year.
A program for patients with advanced cancer seeks to reduce hospitalization costs by improving home care support with symptom management, crisis management, and emotional and spiritual support received $4.1 million in CMS funding.
A 2009 New England Healthcare Institute report estimated that poor medication adherence by patients produces $290 billion in avoidable healthcare costs.
