PHOENIX, AZ–(Marketwired – Feb 10, 2014) – Emerge.MD, the only telehealth cloud platform that can securely connect all the people, processes and technology involved in virtual care, is proud to be selected by Arizona Palliative Home Care (AZPHC) as its Virtual Visit partner. AZPHC, a pioneer in palliative care services, offers people with late-stage chronic illness a way to stay at home with the support of medical professionals who coordinate care along with the patients’ doctors.
“We are successful in keeping patients in the comfort of their own homes, because we continually look at ways to improve the access they have to our medical professionals,” says Lee Ann Black, director of development/strategic planning at Arizona Palliative Home Care. “Virtual visits are a natural complement to our home visits. Our physicians and nurse practitioners can schedule additional check-ins, or be brought in for a consult during a visit by a social worker, aide, or chaplain.”
AZPHC polled patients and their families about the virtual visits and nearly 90% responded that they liked the technology and would like to continue.
“This technology also allows families to be more involved in care for their loved ones,” adds Black. “They feel more connected and in-control when they join our care team and their loved one on the secure virtual platform.”
AZPHC is always focused on reducing trips to the emergency room and avoiding hospitalization, which greatly reduces the cost of healthcare for a high risk population.
“We did a study with a payor and looked at 266 patient hospitalizations before and after our care,” Black said. “We were able to reduce readmissions 57% with virtual visits complementing our in home visits and with Emerge.MD we hope to continue that success and exceed those numbers.”
“Arizona Palliative Home Care is on the cutting edge of healthcare,” says Emerge.MD founder Shahram Partovi, MD. “They continue to lead the way in palliative care, and are now pioneering new ways to improve outcomes and cost with telemedicine.”
About Emerge.MD, Inc.
Emerge.MD simplifies telehealth by offering a health grade platform as a service that includes a suite of collaboration tools that make it easy to provide specialty services anytime, anywhere, and on any device. A privately-held company based in Phoenix, Ariz., Emerge.MD has over a decade of experience working with both hospitals and individual providers to enable their telehealth strategy by delivering online patient communities as well as offering solutions for use cases such as telestroke, dermatology, behavioral health, online urgent care, ED throughput, store and forward referral and patient discharge. For more information, visit www.emergemd.com or connect with Emerge.MD on Twitter (@Emerge_MD) and LinkedIn. See a live demonstration of Emerge.MD products at HIMSS 2014 at booth #4945.
About Arizona Palliative Home Care
Arizona Palliative Home Care is a program of Hospice of the Valley, a not-for-profit organization serving central Arizona since 1977. AZPHC was created in 2010 to address the growing need and number of people with late-stage chronic illness who aren’t ready for hospice services. Our patients need help with care coordination and symptom management. Palliative care focuses on the patient’s physical, psychological and spiritual needs. The goal is to achieve the best quality of life available by relieving suffering and controlling pain and symptoms. See more at: www.azphc.org
Vincent Balsamo
Email Contact
602-635-1535 x102
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