Australia's Telstra has teamed with health insurer HCF and healthcare provider Healthways for a major rollout of a telemonitoring program.
The strategic partnership is an enhancement of HCFs My Health Guardian program, which provides tailored support to around 25,000 health fund members suffering from chronic health conditions.
The telemonitoring service uses Telstra’s Next G 3G network and Healthways' health management experience to deliver biometric monitoring and telephone-based health support from registered nurses to HCF members in their homes.
The service will use a range of Wi-Fi enabled devices such as weight scales, tools for measuring blood pressure, glucometers for checking blood sugar levels and oximeters for measuring the oxygen saturation levels in blood.
A trial of diabetes patients in My Health Guardian in 2012 found that the telemonitoring service delivered significant health benefits, assisted members to manage their conditions and led to high member satisfaction with the fund.
Last year, HCF upgraded the service with an enhanced website and integrated iPhone and Adroid applications.