Independa Unveils Health Measures - An Easy, Affordable Option for Home Health Monitoring

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Independa today announced plans during the 2012 International CES for Health Measures – a platform combining conventional telephony with existing Independa cloud-based services to improve remote care for the elderly.

Simple, affordable Health Measures doesn't require cellular coverage, broadband service or wireless devices in the home, making it ideal for care recipients who live in rural areas with poor cellular coverage, have limited funds to invest in wireless health devices, or have limited time to implement wireless health monitoring solutions immediately after leaving the hospital.

Health Measures allows home-health and home-care professionals, as well as senior-living facilities and family caregivers, to easily record a multitude of crucial biometric data, including weight, blood pressure, glucose level, temperature, pulse and heart rate. Information entered using a wireline or mobile phone is converted to digital form and delivered to Independa's cloud-based telecare solution. All information collected is merged with other data to provide a complete and perpetual view of a person's body telemetry and bio-informatics. The information is presented on the Independa Caregiver Web App, which also enables caregivers to create and follow responses to automatic reminders for those being cared for to take their medications, exercise, eat, hydrate and keep medical appointments.

"We have designed Health Measures to help mitigate expensive and often debilitating conditions that commonly arise during transitions in care," said Independa CEO Kian Saneii. "Our new service will enable hospitals, other caregiving organizations and family caregivers to begin monitoring a care recipient's biotelemetry as soon as the person returns to their residence. Professional and family caregivers will receive timely information, avoiding the need for time-consuming and costly routine home visits.

"Health Measures offers a convenient, intuitive way to provide better, more cost-effective care for elderly people who need remote observation but whose residences  don't have the technological infrastructure for sophisticated wireless health monitoring solutions," said Dr. Richard Della Penna, Independa Chief Medical Officer and former Kaiser Permanente national eldercare lead. "Considering that most conditions requiring a return to the hospital emerge in the first three days after discharge, Health Measures provides hospitals and other healthcare organizations new opportunities to avoid readmissions and related Medicare and Medicaid penalties."

Independa plans to make Health Measures available in February after a month of pilot testing. Health Measures offers a no-hardware, no-installation, lower-cost alternative to complement Independa's Artemis™ solution, a wireless health and home sensor platform. The same alerts and thresholds apply, whether health information is received conveniently via a telephone or a wireless health device.

Health Measures and Artemis both build on the Caregiver Web App and on Independa's touchscreen-based Angela™ offering, which focuses on social engagement for the care recipient. Angela provides single-touch access to games, puzzles, favorite websites, video Web chat, Facebook, email, a photo album and a calendar planner, as well as health-metrics reporting.

For more information about Health Measures, visit www.independa.com/health-measures.

About Independa, Inc.

Independa offers leading technology-enabled independent-living solutions. Independa's best-of-breed cloud-based services enable organizations and individuals providing eldercare to cost-effectively allow the elderly to stay home longer, safer and more comfortably. Independa Integrated CloudCare services include medication and appointment reminders, support for activities of daily living, comprehensive social engagement benefits, and wireless health and safety monitoring. 

Web: http://www.independa.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/independa 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Independa 

SOURCE Independa, Inc.