Sprint and Ideal Life extended their partnership this week with the launch of Ideal Life's remote monitoring kiosks for high-volume settings (schools, living centers, physician offices and health clinics) using Sprint's wireless network.
Ideal Life's M2M kiosk measures blood pressure, weight, blood glucose levels and other biometric readings. Last November, the company launched a similar program for community hospitals in China through a partnership with Novatech.
According to Ideal Life, a two-year study by the Health Research Institute revealed that annual savings using remote healthcare monitoring could amount to approximately $21 billion, 88 percent of physicians would like their patients to be able to monitor their health on their own, and e-visits were able to replace in-office visits in 40 percent of the study's 2,531 cases.
"Wireless M2M solutions present an opportunity to streamline health care and provide greater access to critical patient information at significantly less cost and effort," stated Wayne Ward, VP of Emerging Solutions Group at Sprint, in a press release. "Sprint is proud to collaborate with IDEAL LIFE to facilitate real-time dialog and data exchange between individuals and medical professionals. The potential to impact patient wellness and physician efficiency in an on-demand setting is just one example of how connected devices are fundamentally changing every aspect of the way we work and live."
"IDEAL LIFE already has a strong track record of health care cost reduction," stated Jason Goldberg, President of IDEAL LIFE, in a press release. "Our collaboration with Sprint will allow seamless integration into the marketplace with the IDEAL LIFE kiosk, enabling our company to quickly deploy more solutions providing greater access to care and creating additional health care savings."
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Read the press release below.
PRESS RELEASE -- Sprint and IDEAL LIFE today announced they have launched wireless kiosks for users to capture health and wellness information remotely. The kiosks transmit medical data using Sprint's wireless network and are indicative of a trend within the health care industry toward more self-management and preventative care.
IDEAL LIFE is already known for its remote health monitoring platform for individuals with chronic conditions and was recently recognized as a 2011 Innovations in Healthcare ABBY Award winner. Now their new kiosks are designed for high-volume traffic and can be installed in communal settings such as community centers, libraries, schools, employer facilities, living centers, gyms, health clinics and physician offices.
IDEAL LIFE's digital, two-way and interactive technology streamlines health care delivery by empowering individuals to actively regulate their health through education and self-management, involving the physician when appropriate, thereby saving needless trips to the physician's office while equipping physicians to manage more patients, more efficiently. Whether measuring blood pressure, weight, blood glucose levels or any other biometric reading, IDEAL LIFE kiosk users are able to provide more accurate and immediate data to health care professionals who can, in turn, respond with relevant, reliable and actionable information.
Using technology to stay connected to health care
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications entails devices other than cell phones talking directly to each other over the Sprint wireless network. In the case of health care, M2M connects consumers--the chronically ill, aging or those who just want to improve overall wellness--with easy-to-use medical applications. The IDEAL LIFE kiosk is an example of how wireless technologies, combined with medical applications, can transform health care delivery.
"Wireless M2M solutions present an opportunity to streamline health care and provide greater access to critical patient information at significantly less cost and effort," said Wayne Ward, vice president-Emerging Solutions Group, Sprint. "Sprint is proud to collaborate with IDEAL LIFE to facilitate real-time dialog and data exchange between individuals and medical professionals. The potential to impact patient wellness and physician efficiency in an on-demand setting is just one example of how connected devices are fundamentally changing every aspect of the way we work and live."
The prescription for affordable health care is telemedicine
An IDEAL LIFE-sponsored study of congestive heart failure (CHF) patients showed that remote monitoring using the IDEAL LIFE system offers significant benefits. Among 200 CHF patients, the cost for hospital admissions was reduced from $1.26 million to $540,000.
"IDEAL LIFE already has a strong track record of health care cost reduction," said Jason Goldberg, president-IDEAL LIFE. "Our collaboration with Sprint will allow seamless integration into the marketplace with the IDEAL LIFE kiosk, enabling our company to quickly deploy more solutions providing greater access to care and creating additional health care savings."
Independent studies support IDEAL LIFE's findings. Statistics from the Health Research Institute suggest that telemedicine has the potential to reduce costs, extend accessibility and enhance overall effectiveness of health care delivery.
-- If doctors use wireless applications to remotely monitor patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes or obesity, the annual savings could amount to approximately $21 billion due to a reduction in hospitalization and nursing home costs.
-- 88 percent of physicians would like their patients to be able to monitor their health on their own.
-- During a two-year study by the Health Research Institute, e-visits were able to replace in-office visits in 40 percent of the 2,531 cases.
About IDEAL LIFE
IDEAL LIFE, the industry leader in remote health management solutions, has created an innovative platform that addresses many of today's most challenging and costly health care issues. Guided by a medical advisory panel of experts, the IDEAL LIFE program makes proactive prevention more realistic than ever as it is instrumental in gauging health issues before chronic conditions manifest themselves into acute events. For people managing chronic conditions such as congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, asthma or obesity, IDEAL LIFE provides relevant, real-time, reliable and actionable data from a person either at home or while on the go. It delivers interactive, personalized communication to incorporate feedback to the knowledge base, allowing individuals to become more engaged and active participants in their own health.
The easy-to-use IDEAL LIFE system utilizes digital, wireless, secure two-way communication, allowing for a more personalized and cost-effective wellness experience. The FDA-cleared and HIPAA-compliant system has, for example, been proven to reduce congestive heart failure hospital admissions by 57 percent, demonstrating they can significantly reduce health care costs. For more information, visit www.ideallifeonline.com .
About the Sprint Emerging Solutions Group
With more than a dozen years of experience with M2M, Sprint has been at the forefront of this wireless industry revolution, teaming with and supporting a large and diverse portfolio of innovative partners to create smarter wireless solutions that change the way people work and live. Last year, Sprint opened the Sprint M2M Collaboration Center in Burlingame, Calif., a hands-on, interactive lab where ideas knowledge and technology unite to produce wirelessly enabled M2M concepts and products. Earlier this year, Sprint also introduced the Sprint Command Center, a web-based portal that allows businesses with Sprint wireless-connected products the ability to manage, activate and de-activate each device. To learn more, view this special "What if ..." M2M video and visit www.sprint.com/m2m .
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 52 million customers at the end of 2Q 2011 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation's greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint .
