• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

VivoMetrics Partners With Continua Health Alliance to Advance Telehealth to Improve Patient Care

Posted on: Friday, 19 December 2008, 07:08 CST

Remote Patient Monitoring Vital to Minimizing Costs and Improving Outcomes for Aging Populations with Chronic Illnesses

VENTURA, Calif., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- VivoMetrics, Inc., developer of LifeShirt(R), a continuous, integrated and wearable remote patient monitoring (RPM) system, announced today that they are joining the Continua Health Alliance, a coalition whose goal is to create an interoperable system of personal telehealth solutions that aim to foster independence and empower people to better manage their health and wellness.

The Continua Health Alliance is comprised of technology, medical device and industry leaders dedicated to connecting patients, doctors and treatments in new ways through personal telehealth. As a member of this team, VivoMetrics is wholly committed to this shared goal and is developing a next-generation LifeShirt to address the need for RPM of a population that is growing older and experiencing a greater rate of chronic disease.

"Through our partnership with Continua, we can help to advance a much needed system of personal telehealth devices that will work together," said Howard Baker, president and chief executive officer of VivoMetrics. "As members, we can share in the development of design guidelines and product certifications that will help deliver on the promise of RPM to, as Continua puts it, 'continuously protect and enhance health, regardless of location.'"

The convergence of many factors is driving the need for RPM. Baby Boomers and their parents are living longer and are demanding healthcare that can adapt to their active and independent lifestyles. Additionally, many of these older patients are living with chronic diseases that require high levels of care and ongoing monitoring. Numerous studies have shown that RPM has the ability to curb costs and improve outcomes of patients with chronic diseases, with estimated potential savings of $200 billion over the next 25 years in the United States alone(i).

Advances in wireless technology and an expanding market for mobile medical devices enable healthcare providers to reach and care for patients in new and innovative ways. The ability to monitor patients in their homes or other real world settings can improve efficiency and reduce staffing needs at hospitals while improving patient care, particularly for high-risk patients with chronic diseases.

A comfortable, non-invasive and fully integrated "smart garment," LifeShirt enables healthcare professionals and researchers to continuously collect laboratory-quality physiological data from patients in the real-world settings where they live and work. LifeShirt monitors vital life sign functions such as heart rate, respiration, posture, activity level and temperature which, when viewed in relation to one another, provide the most complete remote picture of a patient's health and well-being available today.

About VivoMetrics

VivoMetrics, Inc., founded in 1999 and based in Ventura, Calif., is a leading innovator in next generation remote patient monitoring (RPM) through the use of its proprietary LifeShirt(R) system. LifeShirt enables healthcare professionals and researchers to collect laboratory-quality physiological data from patients in the real-world settings where they live and work. A fully integrated, non-invasive "smart garment," LifeShirt continuously monitors vital life-sign functions such as heart rate, respiratory rate, body position, activity level and skin temperature which, when monitored and reviewed in relation to one another, create the most complete remote picture of a patient's well being available today. VivoMetrics has supported research and clinical trials using LifeShirt at nearly 300 leading research and academic institutions across a wide range of disease states, including sleep disordered breathing, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis. For more information, visit www.lifeshirt.com.

About Continua Health Alliance

Continua Health Alliance is a non-profit, open industry coalition of the finest healthcare and technology companies joining together in collaboration to improve the quality of personal healthcare. With more than 180 member companies around the world, Continua is dedicated to establishing a system of interoperable personal health solutions with the knowledge that extending those solutions into the home fosters independence, empowers individuals and provides the opportunity for truly personalized health and wellness management. For more information, visit www.continuaalliance.org

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, those that refer to the company's future development plans. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to numerous business, market and financial risk factors. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent our current views as of today and we disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the future.

(i) Litan, Robert, Vital Signs via Broadband Health Monitoring Transmits Savings, Enhances Lives, October 2008, Web site: http://www.betterhealthcaretogether.org/study.

Media Contact: Vanessa Hughes Porter Novelli Life Sciences 310-444-7019 vhughes@porternovelli.com

SOURCE VivoMetrics, Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

More News in this Category