According to Stephen F. Jencks, MD, MPH, in a recent New England Journal of Medicine article, America's healthcare crisis is fueled by unnecessary and costly hospitalizations, including re-admissions -- 90% of which are unplanned and at a price-tag of $17.4 billion. To enhance care and combat readmissions, South Jersey Healthcare (SJH), a leading regional healthcare provider in southern New Jersey, has entered a partnership with Pharos Innovations that aims to reduce healthcare costs while improving quality of life for patients.
Through this partnership, SJH's heart failure (HF) patients at its Regional Medical Center and Elmer Hospital will have access to Pharos' Tel-Assurance®, a cost-effective, proactive remote patient monitoring system that has proven dramatic clinical improvement and cost savings. Tel-Assurance takes a collaborative and simple health information technology (HIT) approach to chronic care management, which simplifies care coordination. With just a cell phone, landline or Internet connection and basic measurement tools, such as a bathroom scale, Tel-Assurance has helped Medicare, Medicaid and commercial patients and their physicians achieve break-through levels of clinical and financial performance improvement.