Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Selects Health Hero Network, American Medical Group Association, Bend Memorial Clinic, and Wenatchee Valley Medical Center for Groundbreaking Physician-Led, Technology-Supported Chronic Care Demonstration.ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Consortium to Show Effectiveness of Remote Monitoring (protocol) remote monitoring - (RMON) A network management protocol that allows network information to be gathered at a single computer. Whereas SNMP gathers network data from a single type of Management Information Base (MIB), RMON 1 defines nine additional MIBs that provide a of Patients with Chronic Conditions The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), previously known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), is a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that administers the Medicare program and (CMS (1) See content management system and color management system. (2) (Conversational Monitor System) Software that provides interactive communications for IBM's VM operating system. ) has selected Health Hero Network, the American Medical Group Association (AMGA Am·ga A river rising in eastern Russia and flowing about 1,287 km (800 mi) generally northeast to the Aldan River east of Yakutsk. ), and medical groups in Washington and Oregon to demonstrate how doctors can use home health monitoring technology to help Medicare patients with severe chronic illness live healthier, happier, longer lives -- and reduce Medicare spending by preventing hospitalizations. The medical groups are Bend Memorial Clinic in Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. The name Bend was derived from "Farewell Bend," the designation used by early pioneers to refer to the location along the Deschutes River where the town eventually was platted, one of the few fordable points along the , and Wenatchee Valley Medical Center in Wenatchee, Washington Wenatchee (IPA: [wɪ ˈnæt tʃi]) is located at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers near the eastern foothills of the Cascade Mountain range in the U.S. State of Washington. . The medical groups will implement a physician-led, technology-supported care management program for up to 2,000 Medicare beneficiaries with congestive heart failure congestive heart failure, inability of the heart to expel sufficient blood to keep pace with the metabolic demands of the body. In the healthy individual the heart can tolerate large increases of workload for a considerable length of time. , chronic obstructive pulmonary disease chronic obstructive pulmonary disease n. Abbr. COPD A chronic lung disease, such as asthma or emphysema, in which breathing becomes slowed or forced. , and/or diabetes. The group has named its effort the "ACCENT Project" -- Advancing Chronic Care through E*Health Networks and Technologies. It is one of six projects selected by CMS under the Care Management for High-Cost Beneficiaries Demonstration. The CMS initiative will test approaches for transforming how doctors and hospitals provide care for high-cost Medicare patients with severe, complex chronic conditions. The goal is to improve the quality of life for these patients while significantly reducing costs. The ACCENT Project is notable among awardees because it will be conducted across multiple sites and because of its robust use of health information technology. "The ACCENT Project will demonstrate that doctors and patients with severe chronic illness, supported by information technology, can establish a new partnership to provide exceptional preventive care Preventive care is a set of measures taken in advance of symptoms to prevent illness or injury. This type of care is best exemplified by routine physical examinations and immunizations. The emphasis is on preventing illnesses before they occur. See also
CMS is requiring that Care Management for High-Cost Beneficiaries Demonstration awardees demonstrate improvements in the quality of care for high-cost Medicare patients who represent most of the program's expenditures. Awardees are guaranteeing to CMS that they will save at least 5 percent of the total Medicare costs for the patients assigned to them. The ACCENT Project's key technology component is the Health Buddy system buddy system n. An arrangement in which persons are paired, as for mutual safety or assistance. Noun 1. buddy system from Health Hero Network. Doctors and nurses at Bend Memorial Clinic and Wenatchee Valley Medical Center will use the Health Buddy appliance to coach patients at home about preventive behaviors that will keep them healthy. The doctors and nurses will use data generated by the Health Buddy appliance to spot problems and intervene early, before patients get so sick that they need to go to the emergency room or be hospitalized. The ACCENT Project is slated to begin on January 1, 2006, and will last three years. CMS will assign to the ACCENT Project a patient population of approximately 2,000 patients who are already under the care of physicians at Bend Memorial Clinic and Wenatchee Valley Medical Center. Project coordinators will then actively recruit, enroll and manage CMS-assigned patients with the active cooperation of medical group physicians. Beneficiary participation in the programs will be voluntary and will not change the amount, duration or scope of participants' fee-for-service Medicare benefits. Fee-for-service Medicare benefits will continue to be covered, administered and paid under the traditional Fee-for-service Medicare program. Programs will be offered at no charge to the beneficiary. Organizations chosen for the demonstration will not be able to restrict beneficiary access to care or restrict beneficiaries to a limited number of physicians in a network. ABOUT HEALTH HERO NETWORK Health Hero Network develops and markets the Health Buddy(R) system for health improvement. The Health Buddy system serves as the interface between patients at home and their care providers, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. The system includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools. Through increased communication, behavior modification behavior modification n. 1. The use of basic learning techniques, such as conditioning, biofeedback, reinforcement, or aversion therapy, to teach simple skills or alter undesirable behavior. 2. See behavior therapy. , and prevention, the Health Buddy system improves the quality of care. Based in Mountain View, California For the census-designated place, see Mountain View, Contra Costa County, California. For other places called "Mountain View", see . Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city gets its name from the views of the Santa Cruz Mountains. , Health Hero Network's systems are protected by over 55 issued US patents. http://www.healthhero.com ABOUT AMERICAN MEDICAL GROUP ASSOCIATION The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) represents medical groups, including some of the nation's largest, most prestigious integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA advocates for the multispecialty medical group model of healthcare delivery and for the patients served by medical groups through innovation and information sharing See data conferencing. , benchmarking, leadership development, and continuous striving to improve patient care. The members of AMGA deliver health care to more than 50 million patients in 42 states, including 15 million capitated lives. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 128,284. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) south of downtown Washington, DC. , AMGA is the strategic partner for medical groups providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs and publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. For more information, visit www.amga.org. ABOUT BEND MEMORIAL CLINIC Offering primary and specialty care since 1946, Bend Memorial Clinic includes 70 physicians representing 13 branches of medicine. It is the largest multi-specialty group east of the Cascades and functions as a comprehensive referral center for physicians and communities throughout the state. At Bend Memorial Clinic, your health is our passion. ABOUT WENATCHEE VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER Wenatchee Valley Medical Center, established in 1940, is a multi-specialty group with offices in seven communities in North Central Washington Central Washington is a region of the United States defined as the western half of Eastern Washington, or those counties lying east of the Cascade Mountains but west of the 119th meridian. , serving an area of approximately 12,000 square miles. The medical center was founded on a commitment to serve patient needs by providing the highest quality healthcare and services in an atmosphere of concern and caring, with an organizational commitment In the study of organizational behavior and Industrial/Organizational Psychology, organizational commitment is, in a general sense, the employee's psychological attachment to the organization. of assisting in the development of one of the nation's best rural healthcare delivery systems. Today, approximately 210 physicians and midlevel providers represent over 30 specialties and subspecialties and provide comprehensive medical and ancillary services to patients. |
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