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`H
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`': WivfiéfiiEXL fiEw§
`& PERSPECTIVES
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`Easing the Elderl Online .
`in Search of Heath Information
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`By Brian Vastag
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`...Patients with chronic illnesses in the Veterans Affairs health care system are getting on
`the Internet in a completely different way, through a tiny appliance called the Health Buddy.
`The size of a desktop phone andjust as straightforward, the Health Buddy plugs into a phone
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`line and prompts the use to answer targeted health questions—such as "Have you checked your
`blood sugar today?”—by pressing one of four large buttons. It sends the information to a pass-
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`word-protected Web site, where a nurse or other health care professional can monitor hundreds
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`of patients.
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`“It’s not threatening, and it's extremely easy for our patients to use," said Rita Kobb, a
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`care coordinator for North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System. When Kobb logs onto
`her Web site, it tells her how many patients answered their questions that day, and it flags
`patients with potential problems. "Our patients don't necessarily use it every day, but even in
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`they answer the questions four or five times a week, that’s a lot more monitoring than they’d
`regularly get, " said Kobb. She keeps tab on 170 patients and said that she could track 500
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`“very easily. "
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`Veterans Affairs staff worked with the company that makes the machine, Health Hero
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`Network lnc, Mountain View, Calif, to develop targeted questionnaires for patients with dia-
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`betes, heart disease, and other chronic disorders. Kobb said that using the tool keeps patients
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`involved with their own health care while providing repeated opportunities for patient educa-
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`tion. About 1500 patients will be using the system by September, a number expected to dou-
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`ble next year. And there's another benefit: reduced costs from slashing unnecessary hospital
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`stays and prescriptions. “After trying it with 476 patients, we've already paid for our eight
`pilot projects, which cost $750,000 each," said Kobb.
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`(Reprinted) JAMA,:' March 28, 2001—Vol 285, No. 12
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`Bosch Ex. 2055
`Bosch EX. 2055
`Cardiocom v. Bosch IPR2013-00468
`Cardiocom V. Bosch IPR2013—00468
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