Philips has signed three-year telehealth contracts with FirstHealth of the Carolinas and Mountain States Health Alliance (MSHA). The contacts involve using Philips Telehealth at home devices including the TeleStation, to collect and transmit patient vital sign data and to enable communication between clinicians and patients. Philip’s wireless devices are able to measure vital signs including weight, blood pressure and pulse, blood oxygen, ECG heart rhythm, and blood glucose.
FirstHealth and MSHA signed their multi-year contracts with Philips with costs for the programs offset by more than $700,000 in Telehealth Network Grants awarded through HHS designed to help communities build the human, technical and financial capacity to develop sustainable telehealth programs and networks.
More than $2 million was awarded in Telehealth Network Grants with funding paid out of FY 2010 funds from HRSA’s Office of Rural Health Policy. The eight Telehealth Network Grant awards averaged $255,000 per award.
