Atlanta-based CyberCare, Inc., will work with MCG and Georgia Tech to commercialize and distribute the electronic house call system. Developers say the system has a huge potential market for assisted living centers, nursing homes and even prisons as well as the personal homes of people with chronic health problems who typically spend a lot of time at a doctor's office, emergency room or in the hospital. It's a new market driven by the need to improve the level of care for patients outside of the hospital setting. Insurance providers are interested in the system's ability to help avoid hospitalization for chronic health problems and physicians see the system as a tool for serving patients in multiple settings, Mr. Haines said. We are excited that the marketplace is really coming after us without any promotion on our part.
Pilot projects are underway with four large customers of the company.
CyberCare, Inc., plans its first shipment of the new version of the system in the third quarter of 1998. The potential patient populations are enormous, including people with congestive heart failure, diabetes, high-risk pregnancies, the elderly with multiple medical problems, he said. The system also has potential in group living environments such as nursing homes or prisons, for not only routine monitoring but for making decisions about whether patients need to be transported to a medical facility, he said. The fact that the electronic house call will now become a commercial product is very rewarding. It's even more rewarding because it will enable health care professionals to take better care of their patients.