Purdue News
Purdue News
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April 1993 New computer program may boost home health-careWEST LAFAYETTE, IND.–An automated system that allows doctors to make "house-calls" to check on patients' progress is now available to health-care professionals. The new system, developed at Purdue University, may help keep a lid on health-care costs by allowing doctors and other health-care professionals to monitor patients' progress without prolonging hospitalization or requiring unnecessary visits to the office. "Because the calls are made by a computer, the program provides a very efficient and economical way for a care-giver to keep in touch with patients," says Gerald H. Roesener, president of TeleHealth Systems Inc., the Indianapolis company that is marketing the new system. The program consists of a computer, a tele-communication modem and a custom-designed software package. The first system will be installed at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia in late April to monitor high-risk pregnancies. The TeleHealth System relies on the use of a touch-tone phone and a computer to communicate with patients. No equipment is required in the patient's home. The computer calls the patients at prearranged times and asks patients to respond to a series of questions. Doctors can easily personalize the service to meet the individual needs of the patient or a particular type of illness, says Dr. Charles Babbs, a researcher with Purdue's Hillenbrand Biomedical Engineering Center who designed the program together with research assistant Umesh Patel. "Patients answer 'yes' or 'no' to the questions by pressing designated numbers on their phones," Babbs says. "Doctors can also ask patients to use the numbers on their phones to enter temperature, weight, pulse rate, or other variables." The responses are recorded and automatically processed into a report that is monitored daily by a doctor or other health-care professional. Through this monitoring process, doctors can detect changes that might signal a need for follow-up care. The software program was used last summer in pilot studies to track heart patients in Indianapolis and Lafayette, Ind. The system was also used in trial studies at Pennsylvania Hospital to monitor high-risk pregnancies. The computer program holds promise for a number of applications, Roesener says. For example, hospitals might use the service when they dismiss patients after a surgery or illness. "Instead of having a patient spend several hundred dollars a day to recuperate in a hospital room, doctors can monitor how well the patient is doing by calling him on a regular basis," he says. "The program can be tailored so that doctors can call as often as necessary, whether it is daily or one or two times a week." The new system is available for purchase or under arrangement through the service bureau of TeleHealth Systems Inc. Further information on the automated system can be obtained by calling TeleHealth Systems Inc. at 8OO-783-8628. NOTE: Black-and-white photographic print available. Contact Purdue News Service (765) 494-2096 or purduenews@purdue.edu
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