FORT WASHINGTON, Pa. (PRWEB)
March 13, 2020

HGE Health, an industry leader in remote respiratory symptom management, has modified its digital platform for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to remotely monitor patients’ exposure to and symptoms of COVID-19. The adapted platform offers an easy-to-use graphical interface that guides users through a questionnaire prepared in accordance with the Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) guidelines. Patients track their level of exposure to the virus, common and other symptoms being experienced, and other risk factors on a daily basis. Patients’ daily risk factors are totaled to help support triage by health care providers. HGE Health is rapidly scaling and deploying the newly adapted platform, HGE COVID Care, offering inundated health systems, hospitals, and employers nationally a vital tool to address the overwhelming number of patients requiring care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals and health systems can reduce the influx of patients presenting in person with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 who could safely be quarantined and monitored at home, ensuring scarce resources are available for patients with severe symptoms that require immediate medical attention.

The CDC is recommending all members of the general population practice “social distancing “to slow the spread of the virus among the population and prevent the health system from being overloaded. By tracking daily risk factors such as symptoms and exposure using HGE COVID Care, patients with known or unknown exposure to COVID-19 can safely distance themselves and quarantine if necessary. Even patients who develop mild symptoms can stay in contact with health care providers to ensure they can safely be monitored and quarantined from home and avoid exposing others or adding unnecessary strain on the health care system.

“There is no way to remotely cure, treat, or diagnose COVID-19,” explained Michael J. Markus, PhD, CEO of HGE Health. “The objective here is to promote remote patient monitoring of risk factors identified by the CDC, such as exposure to infected individuals, common symptoms like fever, cough, and shortness of breath, and other symptoms, and to help slow and sustain a level of infection that can adequately be addressed by the health care system’s existing capacity.”

COVID-19 has now spread to over 110 countries around the world, infecting more than 120,000 and killing more than 4,000. The World Health Organization (“WHO”) recognizes that the severity of Coronavirus is linked to the age and health condition of patients. Patients of an advanced age (at least 60 years old) and diagnosed with a co-morbid disease are the most likely to experience a severe infection of Coronavirus, which requires special treatment of patients such as those enrolled in HGE Health’s platform who suffer from a respiratory condition. The WHO’s clinical management recommendation states that oxygen therapy is the major treatment intervention for patients with a severe Coronavirus infection, as patients with an acute respiratory infection are at significant risk of critical illness. Mortality in those with critical illness has been reported as over 50%, according to the WHO, thus implementation of proven critical care interventions such as lung protective ventilation should be optimized.

About HGE Health

Headquartered in Fort Washington, PA, HGE Health harnesses its deep experience in chronic disease management and digital health in pulmonary disease, telemedicine and mobile health to develop a clinical services platform that delivers better care faster at a much lower cost for patients, physicians and payors. Built on clinical protocols developed and supported by 16 years of research, the company’s technology has compiled the longest running and world’s largest longitudinal data set of COPD symptoms, interventions and clinical management to help physicians provide care for a geographically and socio-economically diverse COPD and pulmonary patient population.

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