PHILADELPHIA (PRWEB)
March 13, 2020

As the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) accelerates across the country, Temple University Hospital (TUH), its Department of Thoracic Medicine and Surgery, and the Temple Lung Center are taking proactive steps to protect its staff and patients using HGE Health’s telemedicine platform. Temple will enroll patients at risk or with mild symptoms of COVID-19 in HGE Health’s platform to remotely monitor them while patients are isolated at home. Additionally, patients will be monitored during their convalescence at home following hospitalization for COVID-19 to ensure continued resolution of their symptoms. The use of telemedicine provides close monitoring of the patient’s symptoms and disease course while avoiding unnecessary staff exposure to COVID-19.

Under this first-of-a-kind containment program, hospital patients are presented with the option to continue having their symptoms remotely monitored for 30-days after being discharged, or longer if additional time is required for their symptoms to subside.

“Patients who are at the hospital for treatment of an existing condition or to undergo a medical procedure have had their immune systems compromised, and are particularly susceptible to COVID-19,” explained Nathaniel Marchetti, DO, Professor of Thoracic Medicine and Surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and Medical Director of the Respiratory Intensive Care Unit at TUH. “We attempt to limit their exposure to COVID-19 by providing carriers with remote care without requiring an in-person visit. And by continually monitoring discharged patients when they are discharged and return home, we can quickly and effectively offer medical care to the at-risk patient population when such care is needed most, without a return visit or readmission to the hospital.”

“We have extensive experience with monitoring thousands of patients with COPD and following lung transplantation on a daily basis,” said Michael J. Markus, PhD, the CEO of HGE Health. “We are very proud of the positive impact our platform has had on the lives of our COPD and lung transplant patients. We believe we have the technology and experienced staff to provide an effective and scalable approach to help treat the numbers of patients that may potentially suffer from the COVID-19 pandemic. We worked quickly with Temple to expand use of our platform to remotely isolate potential COVID-19 patients, and provide them with care in their own homes, where they will not expose others to the virus.”

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 and has recently declared it a pandemic. 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. HGE Health’s digital platform and technology-enabled services, called HGE Care, allows pulmonary and primary care physicians to remotely care for patients from anywhere in the nation, and help patients better understand and manage changes in their COPD symptoms. Thanks to a daily digital interaction with their healthcare team, patients are engaged in their own symptom management, and log their symptoms on the HGE Care platform over 80% – 90% of the time. Patients enjoy peace of mind that each day they experience a change from their typical COPD symptoms, their own physician/care team will provide same-day feedback, helping patients breathe easier, avoiding ER visits and hospital admissions, and enjoy an improved quality of life, all while reducing overall healthcare costs for patients and their health plan.

Editor’s Note: HGE Health Care Solutions is the exclusive licensee to certain Temple University intellectual property.

Dr. Gerard Criner, Director of the Temple Lung Center, is the founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of HGE Health Care Solutions.

Temple University, Dr. Criner and Dr. Marchetti hold minority equity positions in the company.

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.

About Temple Health

Temple University Health System (TUHS) is a $2.2 billion academic health system dedicated to providing access to quality patient care and supporting excellence in medical education and research. The Health System consists of Temple University Hospital (TUH); TUH-Episcopal Campus; TUH-Jeanes Campus; TUH-Northeastern Campus; The Hospital of Fox Chase Cancer Center and Affiliates, an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center; Temple Transport Team, a ground and air-ambulance company; Temple Physicians, Inc., a network of community-based specialty and primary-care physician practices; and Temple Faculty Practice Plan, Inc., TUHS’s physician practice plan comprised of more than 500 full-time and part-time academic physicians in 20 clinical departments. TUHS is affiliated with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

Temple Health refers to the health, education and research activities carried out by the affiliates of Temple University Health System (TUHS) and by the Katz School of Medicine. TUHS neither provides nor controls the provision of health care. All health care is provided by its member organizations or independent health care providers affiliated with TUHS member organizations. Each TUHS member organization is owned and operated pursuant to its governing documents.

It is the policy of Temple University Health System that there shall be no exclusion from, or participation in, and no one denied the benefits of, the delivery of quality medical care on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, age, ancestry, color, national origin, physical ability, level of education, or source of payment.

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