Some 1,600 patients in 40 rural Great Plains towns will test telemedicine and remote sensor technology, thanks to a three-year, $8 million grant by a rural health initiative of the New York-based Leona and Harry B. Helmsley Trust. The beneficiary, the Good Samaritan Society, will provide about half of the patients with new technologies, while the remainder, the control group, will receive traditional care at home or in assisted-living facilities. The University of Minnesota will study the participants to determine whether remote sensing and monitoring improves health status and reduces costs. Good Samaritan officials hope to use the data to convince CMS and private payers to cover monitoring devices in the future, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Article