Arrhythmia Surveillance Utilized HeartCheck™ Device and SMART Monitoring ECG Service Technologies
TORONTO, ONTARIO – CardioComm Solutions, Inc. (TSX VENTURE:EKG) (“CardioComm Solutions” or the “Company”)today announced that it is working within a pilot that uses HeartCheck™ ECG testing technology to support arrhythmia screening and surveillance with long-term care facilities. The pilot was coordinated by Toronto-based In Initiative Inc. and conducted with Responsive Management Inc. (“RMI”), an organization that owns and operates nine long-term care homes and three retirement residences in Ontario. The program will utilize the HeartCheck™ ECG monitor and SMART Monitoring ECG service technologies enabled through GEMS™ Home and focuses on the early detection of atrial fibrillation (“AF”). The arrhythmia surveillance program system was implemented as part of a larger project funded by an education grant provided by Boehringer Ingleheim (Canada) Inc.
Residents of long-term care facilities are at a higher risk for developing arrhythmias due to their age or co-morbid conditions, or both. Central to a program of arrhythmia surveillance is the ability to easily and accurately capture an ECG at the time a resident is exhibiting symptoms. The resident’s provider performs the ECG recording using the HeartCheck™ ECG monitor and then uploads the recording to the CardioComm Solutions SMART Monitoring ECG service via GEMS™ Home from a workstation at a designated nursing station. Through the cloud-based SMART Monitoring service, ECGs are interpreted by Canadian physicians who are specifically assigned to the RMI ECG records. Once interpreted, ECG reports are then automatically returned to the long-term care facility, using HIPPA compliant data encryption technologies, where the reports are reviewed by the physician in charge through GEMS™ Home.
The goal of the arrhythmia surveillance program is to assist long-term care facilities with the early detection of life threatening arrhythmias, especially AF, and improve the care of the residents. “AF related strokes in the elderly are more disabling and more likely to be fatal. At RMI, we are focused on introducing best practice initiatives that improve the well-being of our residents through a resident-centric approach in everything we do,” said Derrick Hoare, Vice President Operations, Responsive Management Inc. “We did not realize how much of a problem AF is in our homes but now have a framework to detect and address the issue. Using a multi-disciplinary team of professionals and the CardioComm Solutions technologies, a care protocol has been implemented that addresses early AF detection and initiation of optimal therapy.”
“We are excited to be part of this initiative designed to develop a standardized approach to prevent strokes in our residents. The pilot project addresses an unmet need and we expect that initial results will be presented soon,” said Susan Veenstra, Director of Nursing and Wellness at Responsive Management Inc.
“RMI has shown leadership in the adoption of a new technology within the daily medical management of their residents. The RMI ECG surveillance program incorporates best practice guidelines to support ongoing ECG testing for all residents and the training of staff to recognize and respond appropriately to signs of AF with the goal of preventing the occurrence of strokes through early AF detection. The program will reduce unnecessary and costly transfers to the ER which are stressful to the resident and may result in the arrhythmia not being found given the episodic nature of AF,” said Etienne Grima, CEO of CardioComm Solutions. “We have been piloting the HeartCheck™ devices since August 2013 and are now fully implemented in three of the RMI locations. A major advance was the GEMS™ Home 1.2 release that allows the HeartCheck™ ECG handheld monitor to interface with the SMART Monitoring ECG service. We look forward to the successful roll out of the solution in all of the RMI Ontario locations over the next few months and to contributing to their mission of maintaining the best level of care possible for their residents.”
“There are more than 630 long-term care facilities in Ontario alone, according to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC),” noted Simi Grosman, a member of the Company’s Board of Directors. “Replicating these numbers across the country speaks to a significant and rapidly expanding market for CardioComm Solutions’ HeartCheck™ ECG monitor and SMART Monitoring ECG service technologies. The potential impact that we can make on the early detection of arrhythmias and AF cannot be overstated.” More information regarding the HeartCheck™ products and SMART Monitoring solutions is available at the Company’s web site www.theheartcheck.com.
