UVA Health System Escalates Telehealth Capabilities

The University of Virginia  (UVA) Health System will be expanding its telehealth capabilities by piloting various initiatives to help battle chronic diseases such as diabetes, prediabetes and heart disease, officials recently announced.

Through the UVA Center for Telehealth, the health system is planning to expand or test several initiatives to fight chronic diseases, including remote monitoring for patients with diabetes, screenings for patients with diabetic eye disease, cardiac rehabilitation programs for heart failure patients and streamlined access to specialists.

These programs will be supported by an initial grant of more than $750,000 from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Virginia Department of Health, according to officials.

Some of the expanded virtual offerings include:

• Remote blood sugar monitoring for type 2 diabetes patients: Nurses will remotely monitor the blood-sugar levels of patients and be able to send alerts if a patient’s blood sugar reaches a concerning level.
• Screenings for diabetic retinopathy: Using a screening device, a pilot program will test the effectiveness of remote screenings for diabetic retinopathy via telehealth.
• Home rehabilitation for heart failure patients: Patients will receive a tablet that will enable them to enter their vital signs as well as participate in twice-weekly education and physical activity sessions to aid in their recovery.

What’s more, UVA researchers will also assess existing health and fitness apps to determine which are most helpful, while eConsults would enable a primary care provider to seek advice from a specialist by sending a message through an electronic health record (EHR) system that would allow the specialist to review the patient’s medical record before making a recommendation.

Overall, “Virtual care delivery models have proven to improve access, care coordination, clinical outcomes and patient engagement,” Karen S. Rheuban, M.D., director of the UVA Center for Telehealth. “The digital transformation of healthcare has been affirmed by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, as Medicare now covers a broad range of virtual care models. Our collaboration with the CDC in advancing these connected care models to enhance disease prevention will impact patients across the nation.”