The Health Hero?? Online Service

Abstract

This article describes recent developments in remote patient self-management programmes for care management. An overview of current practices in disease management, care management and quality improvement is provided along with descriptions of enabling technologies including interactive voice response (IVR) and new patient communication and data capture systems. A new technology platform for disease management, case management and performance measurement ‘the Health Hero® online service — is presented and described. The Health Hero® platform features a patient information appliance (the Health Hero® Health Buddy® appliance), a central data centre, and an Internet-based service facilitating the daily activities of patient- and population-based care management, disease management and performance measurement. Results from preliminary field testing of the Health Hero® online service are presented. These results indicate that compliance (usage) with the Health Hero® online service is consistently above 90% and that patient satisfaction is high. Surveys conducted on the Health Hero® online service indicate the device is easy to set-up and use, and that the likelihood of patients’ continuing to use the Health Hero® online service is high and increases with time (from 80 to 93% over 3 months). Remote patient care management systems, such as the Health Hero® Internet-based communications platform and some IVR systems, facilitate efficient monitoring of patients. They consequently provide a foundation for better outcomes and quality of life for patients and reductions in the cost of healthcare delivery.