Hartford health insurer Aetna Inc. and microchip-maker Intel Corp. say it is possible for care providers to remotely intervene to treat elderly Americans with chronic heart ailments in their home, reducing their need for costly hospital visits.
Both companies shared initial findings from their 18-month remote-intervention study Wednesday during America’s Health Insurance Plans Institute conference in Las Vegas. Final results are due later this year.
“Evidence shows that traditional nurse care management programs have improved outcomes and reduced avoidable hospital admissions among Medicare beneficiaries with [chronic heart failure],” Randall Krakauer, M.D., Aetna’s national Medicare medical director, said in releasing the findings.
Aetna believes teaming heart patients with its nurse case managers “will be more successful managing their health,” Krakauer said.
The Aetna-Intel study is based on 364 Aetna members on Medicare who suffer chronic heart problems who were given blood-pressure monitors and weight scales to monitor their vital signs, information the patients entered mostly daily onto their home computers.
Nurse case managers then monitored the information online using Intel’s Health Guide system, including whether patients exercised properly and took their medicine.
The data also is used to coordinate the member’s care with her primary physician, Aetna and Intel said.
In cases where signs were that patients’ heart conditions were unstable, care providers intervened with an online video reminder about the importance of taking medication on schedule or other proactive health prompts.
 “As the number of patients with chronic conditions continues to rise, we must adopt new and innovative remote health management technologies that move us toward a more proactive care model,” said Patricia Perry, vice president and director of product delivery for the Intel’s digital health group in Santa Clara, Calif.
