Tampa General Hospital and Signallamp Collaborate on New Remote Chronic Care Management Program

The technology allows for seamless, real-time monitoring in the comfort of the patient's home.

TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Patients with serious illnesses continue to receive care without leaving home, thanks to a partnership between Tampa General Hospital (TGH) and Signallamp Health Inc., a leading chronic care management company based in Pennsylvania.

More than 1,000 Tampa General patients currently are linked to advanced monitoring systems that communicate with their health care providers, reducing the number of visits to a doctor's office or hospital.

"It's cost-effective, efficient and allows doctors to monitor the health of their patients while they are at home,'' said Dr. Karna Patel, vice president for Tampa General Medical Group.

Remote patient management is a growing trend in health care that allows caregivers to receive important health information about patients via remote, wearable devices. These updates allow health care experts to track patients with such conditions as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure and high blood pressure. The technology also helps free up much-needed hospital beds.

Signallamp's robust platform makes assessments of patients and aligns that information with Tampa General medical teams such as primary care physicians, clinical pharmacists, and specialty providers. The platform is simple and doesn't require the use of smartphones or Wi-Fi. Patients plug into a hub and use wireless monitoring devices approved by their TGH provider, such as a blood pressure cuff, which communicate to the hub.

Tampa General first partnered with Signallamp in 2021 for chronic care management. In 2022, the partnership expanded to include remote patient monitoring and a collaboration with innovative digital health connectivity company Stel Life Inc. on the system's hardware and software. Stel's "Vitals Hub'' integrates with health monitoring devices, including scales, blood pressure cuffs, glucometers (blood sugar testing) and thermometers.  

Remote patient monitoring has been an overwhelming success for Tampa General and its patients. Key highlights to date include:

• 40,000+ net new patient engagements.
• 92% patient retention in longitudinal care management (longitudinal refers to a single, complete patient record combining data from a variety of physicians and health care facilities).
• 1,200+ medication discrepancies identified and resolved.
• 1,000+ complex patients identified by a care management team and managed by a primary care physician.

"Improving the patient experience, and lowering total cost of care, requires increased primary care capacity,'' Patel said. "This program gives our patients expanded access, personalization and a constant connection with their doctors, who can stay in front of issues and prevent avoidable hospitalizations."

Remote monitoring has enormous opportunities. People receiving care at home had a 26% lower risk of readmission to the hospital and a lower risk for long-term care admission than hospitalized patients, according to JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Our partnership with Signallamp and Stel Life is part of our commitment to driving world-class innovation that truly improves the quality of care our patients receive," said Rachel Feinman, vice president of Innovation at Tampa General and managing director of TGH Innoventures, the hospital's innovation center and venture capital fund. "Remote patient monitoring solutions are a real game changer in providing at-home care for patients with chronic conditions."

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, a 1,040-bed, not-for-profit, academic health system, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News and World Report's 2023-24 Best Hospitals, with six specialties ranking among the top 50 best hospital programs in the United States. Tampa General Hospital has been designated as a model of excellence by the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals list. The academic health system's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious Forbes magazine rankings – in the top 100 nationally in the 2023 America's Best Employers for Women and sixth out of 100 Florida companies in the 2022 America's Best Employers by State. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal year 2021, provided a net community benefit worth more than $224.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education, and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With six medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center, and its 32-bed Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Outpatient Center, TGH Virtual Health, and 21 TGH Imaging powered by Tower outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org).  As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is the first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that provides real-time situational awareness to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.

ABOUT SIGNALAMP HEALTH
Signallamp Health, Inc. is a remote care management solution for providers where patients are managed virtually through a proprietary system that aligns clinical interventions by patient, health plan, provide and payment modality. Patients experience personalized longitudinal care and providers retain autonomy and clinical discretion over their patients without upfront investment. Signallamp Health is trusted by many of the top health systems in the U.S. and has been repeatedly recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the Top 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the U.S. For more information, visit www.signallamphealth.com.

Media Contact: Beth Hardy, APR
Senior Communications Specialist
(727) 510-6363 (cell)
[email protected]

SOURCE Tampa General Hospital