New Review of Evidence On Connected Care Shows High-Quality, Lower Cost Services for Chronic Care Management

WASHINGTON, DC -- Former Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle and Trent Lott, and former senior Senate Finance Committee member Senator John Breaux, along with leading experts on telemedicine, today released new research showing that the use of connected care technologies for chronic disease management can result in high-quality, lower-cost care.

Dr. Rashid Bashshur and Dr. Gary Shannon from the University of Michigan and the University of Kentucky, respectively, were on hand at an event hosted by the Alliance for Connected Care to discuss their new systemic review of the literature on the use of connected care to treat patients suffering from stroke, chronic pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure (CHF).

"The research released today confirms what I have long suspected – that the use of Connected Care can result in high-quality, lower cost services for Medicare beneficiaries. It's time to remove the regulatory and statutory barriers still impeding provider reimbursement for the use of connected care and ensure that all Americans have access to these services," said Senator Daschle.

"Although policy makers and politicians may not agree on everything, we can all agree that patients should have access to the best, most efficient care possible, whenever and wherever they need it. This research shows that Connected Care technologies can and should be leveraged whenever possible. The Alliance for Connected Care is dedicated to helping ensure that all can realize the benefits of this technology," Senator Lott added.

"The Alliance for Connected Care believes that technology can transform our health care system. This comprehensive look at the evidence demonstrates the clear benefit of using Connected Care to treat and care for millions of Americans suffering from chronic medical conditions," said Senator Breaux.

The systemic review of the literature released today generally confirms that connected care technologies can facilitate reduced rates of hospital admissions and readmissions, shorter hospital stays, reduced rates of emergency department visits and reductions in the incidence of mortality. Notable results include:

• Connected care was useful in addressing predictors associated with hospitalization for patients suffering from CHF.  Evidence was found that both admissions and costs of care were lower when the patient received care through connected care technology.
• Telepulmonology saved patients with COPD more than 294,000 miles of travel for diagnosis and treatment, with 68 percent of the consultations studied actually prevented a referral.
• Connected care significantly reduced the need to transfer patients to other facilities for treatment associated with stroke . Mortality risk was decreased by 30 percent and treatment costs were significantly reduced.

The Alliance for Connected Care is a 501(c)(6) organization striving to create a statutory and regulatory environment in which every provider in America is permitted to deliver and be adequately compensated for providing safe, high quality care using Connected Care at his or her discretion, regardless of care delivery location or technological modality. Current Alliance members include CVS Caremark, Teladoc, Verizon, HealthSpot, Walgreens, WellPoint, Specialists on Call, Doctors on Demand, WelchAllyn, GlobalMed, Cardinal Health, MDLIVE and Care Innovations. 

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Peter G. Mirijanian
Peter Mirijanian Public Affairs
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