Press Release

[AHOSKIE, NC. - October 2, 2006]

Eastern North Carolina Community Takes Radical Approach to Fight Nation’s Top Two Health Problems

WebVMC’s RemoteNurse ™ to Monitor Patients in Senior Centers, Churches and Schools to Prevent and Treat Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes in One of the Nation’s Poorest Areas

An innovative new program to improve the health in one of the nation’s most disadvantaged areas is underway, using in-home monitoring, in-home vital signs monitoring and telehealth kiosks[1] in senior centers, churches and schools to fight obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The $360,000, three year program, funded by the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission (HWTF), will be available to more than 40,000 residents in four counties – Bertie, Gates, Hertford, and Northampton – through Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center (RCCHC) in Ahoskie, North Carolina. 

“We are in the business of investing in families, in communities and in North Carolina,” said Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, HWTF Chair.  “As a commission, it is our goal to make North Carolina the healthiest state in America. By funding important initiatives like these, we are moving closer to reaching this goal.”

The Patient Provider Community Telehealth Network began in September with the placement of RemoteNurse™ telehealth systems, developed by WebVMC, in homes of patients with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In October, kiosks at local senior centers will be used to screen people for risk factors, and monitor people at risk and those requiring treatment.  Later this fall, the program expands to a Latino-based church, and in January, to the local middle school.  All services are provided at not cost to patients.

With RemoteNurse™, caregivers and patients can monitor risk factors on a device as easy to use as a telephone. The data is reported to the patient’s doctor or nurse automatically, enabling them to observe vital medical signs daily or even more often. With chronic illnesses like CVD and diabetes, this ongoing monitoring is essential to help people stay healthy and compliant with their medical regime.  

“Our region is one of the poorest in the state, with 20 percent living 100% below the federal poverty level, and our cardiovascular death rate is the highest in the state at 18.5%, and getting worse,” said Kim Schwartz, CEO of RCCHC.   “With WebVMC’s RemoteNurse™, we can monitor hundreds or even thousands of people, without requiring them to make the trip to the doctor.  By taking this technology to the community – to senior centers, to schools, and to faith-based organizations – we can track and manage people who receive no or too little medical care, and have a positive, immediate, and ongoing impact on their health status.”

WebVMC provides virtual medical care using the Internet to connect patients with chronic illness, their caregiver, and their clinician for 24/7 disease management, from any location. Patients stay in the comfort of their own homes and communities, and also receive a health assessment and individualized education.  

“In designing our technology for remote disease management, we saw a need for a system that could be used in any setting, not only home health, hospitals and assisted living facilities, but in diverse community sites and remote geographic areas as well,” said Scott Sheppard, President and CEO of WebVMC. “We made our program interactive, easy to use, and low cost so that it can be used to manage a person’s health anytime, anywhere, and by anyone.”

“We selected WebVMC because their technology is software driven, their staff is service driven, the return on investment is superior to other systems, and they provide unlimited kiosk use with broad band connection with no extra charge as the number of patients increases,” said Bonnie Britton, RN, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Nursing at RCCHC.  “WebVMC also provides audio tracks in several languages, including Spanish which is important to our Latino population.”

WebVMC’s RemoteNurse™ contains many features that other systems do not offer. Clinicians can access the patient’s data from any computer. If a health reading requires immediate attention, the RemoteNurse will contact the clinician right away by their preferred method of contact – phone, beeper, or e-mail. The system is multi-lingual, with symbols for patients who cannot read, and audio tracks for people who cannot see.

“We are confident that the implementation of the Patient Provider Community Telehealth Network will have a huge impact on our community, and help our medical team truly combat the healthcare disparities that exist in our region,” said Tim Britton, RCCHC Board Chair.

The program is initially funded from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2009.

About Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center

Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center is a not-for-profit organization, governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, committed to providing quality service and comprehensive healthcare – regardless of the ability to pay – to meet the needs of the rural community, including the uninsured. RCCHC is a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike and an associate member of the NC Community Health Center Association. The Center includes Murfreesboro Primary Care, Ahoskie Primary Care and Ahoskie Family Physicians. The goal of the Patient Provider Community Telehealth Network is to assist the HWTF to eliminate disparities for minorities with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. Interconnectivity between health care providers and patients in the home, community, and school will be established to increase access to health screening, detection, intervention, and health education and to impact healthy lifestyle changes in youth to decrease obesity and complications of obesity. For information on RCCHC, please contact Bonnie Britton at 252.209.0237.

ABOUT THE NC HEALTH AND WELLNESS TRUST FUND

The NC Health and Wellness Trust Fund makes North Carolina stronger, both physically and economically, by funding programs that promote preventive health. Created by the General Assembly in 2000 to allocate a portion of North Carolina’s share of the national tobacco settlement, HWTF has invested $127 million to support preventive health initiatives and $78 million to fund a prescription drug assistance program. For more information, please visit www.HealthWellNC.com.

Any opinion, finding, conclusion or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view and policies of the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission.