AirStrip Technologies Announces Home Health Collaboration with Qualcomm Life
Early stage collaboration unveiled at mHealth Summit will move AirStrip mobile monitoring innovation into homes; initial focus placed on Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients
WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2011 - Mobile patient monitoring innovator AirStrip Technologies, Inc. has announced that it plans to collaborate with Qualcomm Life Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, to develop and execute a home health monitoring initiative that integrates the AirStrip mobile patient monitoring solution onto the Qualcomm 2net(TM) Platform. The initial focus of AirStrip's initiative will be on Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients, resulting in better health outcomes by connecting the care team to patients at home.
AirStrip Technologies made the announcement during the 3rd Annual mHealth Summit. The industry-leading event gathers key stakeholders in government, the private sector, industry and providers to work toward wireless technology solutions that improve outcomes.
The planned collaboration will leverage Qualcomm Life's 2net Hub, a plug-and-play connectivity gateway onto the cloud-based 2net Platform's data server, to collect home-based medical device data using wireless medical devices with AirStrip's mobile patient monitoring applications.
AirStrip allows clinicians to securely access patient monitoring data such as continuous heart tracings and other waveforms, along with vital signs such as blood pressure, weight and pulse. Physicians, nurses and case managers can view and interact with this information seamlessly using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.
Ease of use for patients is a critical component of the mobile monitoring system for the home. Qualcomm Life's 2net Hub is the size of a cell phone, plugs into a standard wall socket and supports Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, WiFi and ANT+ local area radio protocols. The 2net Hub is Continua-certified, and also supports cellular communications to send the data wirelessly to Qualcomm Life's 2net Platform.
AirStrip will initially establish pilot projects with U.S. healthcare providers to implement a clinically effective home health monitoring program. Pilots are expected to kick off in the first quarter of 2012. Existing AirStrip applications for the hospital setting are all FDA cleared and currently in use at hundreds of U.S. hospitals.
"Right now more than five million Americans are living with CHF, and well over a half-million new cases are diagnosed in the U.S. each year," noted AirStrip Technologies President and Chief Medical Officer Cameron Powell MD. "Working with Qualcomm Life, we have identified ways to enable mobile monitoring in the home health environment."
The AirStrip planned integration into the 2net Platform comes as hospitals prepare for new CMS rules that are part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Under the rules, hospitals that have high readmission rates will be penalized starting in 2012. The stated goal is to reduce the number of patients that return to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. Medicare has estimated the cost of readmissions at around $17 billion.
A recent New England Healthcare Institute analysis concluded that remote monitoring of heart failure patients has the potential to prevent as many as 627,000 hospital readmissions annually - resulting in national cost savings of up to $6.4 billion each year.
According to the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, CHF patients were the toughest to keep out of the hospital, with 20.9 percent returning to the hospital within 30 days in 2004. By 2009, the rate rose to 21.2 percent. Heart failure is responsible for 11 million physician visits annually and more hospitalizations than all forms of cancer combined.
"The AirStrip solution when integrated with the 2net Platform ultimately will promote the patient-centered medical home model for the chronically ill, coordinated by primary care physicians," said AirStrip Technologies CEO Alan Portela. "At the same time, we anticipate that this effort will support federal Accountable Care Organization models for lowering costs while improving outcomes for patient populations living with CHF and other heart-related diseases such as hypertension."
"Qualcomm Life's 2net Platform will allow integrated medical devices in a patient's home to transfer data into AirStrip's medical software for physicians and caregivers, meaning physicians will be able to gain access to critical patient data prior to a patient's arrival at the hospital and following discharge from the hospital," said Rick Valencia, vice president and general manager of Qualcomm Life. "This additional information collected outside of the hospital environment will provide a more complete and dynamic picture of a patient's health."
About AirStrip Technologies, Inc.
Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, AirStrip Technologies is a pioneer in mobile medical software applications designed to work across most platforms to improve patient safety and reduce risk in the healthcare setting. AirStrip Technologies engages, consults and employs leading technology and medical experts to ensure the highest quality of their products. The core technology team is committed to bringing best-of-breed products to the market that enhance the ability of physicians and healthcare professionals to perform their work on a daily basis with the added assurances that their patients are being provided the best care available. Visit www.airstriptech.com for more information.
SOURCE AirStrip Technologies
CONTACT: Chris Lato, AirStrip Technologies, +1-608-219-7231, chrislato@airstriptech.com
Web Site: www.airstriptech.com
