Forward Currents

Center for Connected Health Progress Report 2009

Message from the
Director
A s we are seeking to make vast changes in how providers treat chronic disease and how patients
can become more engaged in their health, I am reminded of a quote from an English historian,
“The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.” At the Center for
Connected Health, our compass is clearly pointed due north, as we navigate through these changes
to build effective, new solutions and innovative interventions to deliver quality patient care outside of
the traditional medical setting.

A new healthcare reform proposal should create opportunities for Connected Health, which can play
an integral role in redefining healthcare delivery in our country. Within this context, providers – from
healthcare networks to private practice physicians – are looking to get on board with more efficient
care delivery, improved chronic disease management and more patient-centered care. And, in
growing numbers, employers and payers are joining the proponents of Connected Health strategies,
to increase access to quality care and empower employees to be more in charge of their health, while
reducing healthcare spending.

At the Center, we have been focused on building the bridges that will lead from today’s
overburdened healthcare infrastructure to a care delivery system that will empower patients, optimize
provider involvement and open the door for new healthcare payment models.

In 2009, we continued to demonstrate that Connected Health strategies produce measurable

behavior change, improve adherence and increase engagement – driven by innovative programs
to keep people healthier and out of the doctor’s office or hospital. Our programs in hypertension,
diabetes, cardiac care and wellness are using technology to gather accurate physiologic patient data,
give patients and providers easy access to this data, and offer personalized coaching and incentives to
patients to stick to their care plan.

Our SmartBeat program, a hypertension management program for self-insured employers, is our first
product being offered outside the Partners network. Large, forward looking employers are signing on
with SmartBeat, offering a convenient, user-friendly way for employees to monitor and manage their
blood pressure. In just the first year of operation, the Center is already expanding the line of services
available via SmartBeat, to address the specific needs of employers, to include wellness programs
aimed at helping employees stay healthy and active.

The wave of adoption for Connected Health is gaining strength. We are building momentum with
opportunities for consumers, testing reimbursement models for providers and cost containment
opportunities for payers. Health information technology is, rightfully so, moving beyond electronic
medical records. The healthcare system, patients and payers are poised for change.

Further evidence of this changing tide is the fact that our Connected Cardiac Care program now
automatically enrolls patients with heart failure to help our sickest patients stay healthy at home. Our
Connected Health solution is now truly changing the care pattern, provider engagement and patient
self-management for Partners cardiac patients.

These forward currents are propelling us towards a more efficient, effective and patient-centered
healthcare delivery system.

I am proud of our accomplishments and the people who are helping to navigate into the future of
healthcare delivery. I am pleased to share with you our progress over the past year.

Joseph C. Kvedar, MD
Director, Center for Connected Health
Partners HealthCare
“SmartBeat is easy to use and gives me
comfortable perspective on my blood
throughout the day and over time.”
 SmartBeat
Helping Employers Stay the Course
on Healthcare Spending
W hat started out as a concept just three years ago
is now a program being offered as an employee
benefit at major companies throughout New England.
Following a clinical study with over four hundred employees
from EMC Corporation, the Center for Connected
Health launched SmartBeat in the spring of 2009. The
program is a unique disease management service to
support better clinical outcomes for employees, reduce
healthcare spending for employers and improve workforce
productivity. SmartBeat couples remote monitoring
technology, Internet based feedback and personalized
coaching, helping improve hypertension self-management
for employees at companies such as EMC Corporation and
Partners HealthCare.
“SmartBeat is helping our employees understand their own health
and connect their life choices with changes in their blood pressure,”
said William T. Hubert, Manager, Health and Welfare Plans, Partners
HealthCare. “Employees quickly begin to realize how they can gain
control over their condition, improve their health and avoid future
complications. It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm of members as they
enroll in the program and learn how they can take responsibility for their
own health and actually do something to improve it.”
Participating employees are given a blood pressure cuff for their
homes that stores and transmits their physiologic data. In return, they
receive personalized, data-driven feedback and educational content,
which employees can choose to share with their healthcare provider.
Personalized website displays and robust, automated coaching helps
engage employees with high blood pressure or who are at risk for
hypertension to take a more active role in managing their health.
“As I’m getting a little older, I’m starting to get more mindful of my
health. I don’t have high blood pressure, but wanted to be more
aware of my health status,” said John, 50, a Network Administrator at
Partners HealthCare (above). “SmartBeat is easy to use and gives me a
comfortable perspective on my blood pressure throughout the day and
over time.”
Employers receive comprehensive reporting, including engagement
levels, and actual aggregated clinical data.
Within the first four months, SmartBeat enrolled more than 400
employees from Partners, and over 1,000 employees are expected to
participate in the first year. The Center is in discussion with other large
self-insured employers to add SmartBeat to their benefits plan.
a
pressure
“It’s like brushing my teeth every morning,” said Joe Crisafulli, 64, a
Partners HealthCare Program Developer, who has been managing his
high blood pressure for years. “Taking my blood pressure reading with
SmartBeat each day has become a part of my routine. I’ve noticed
fluctuations in my readings, and observed that, following exercise, my
blood pressure goes down significantly. This has given me extra incentive
to stick to my exercise program.”
“We continue to gather important behavioral, social and physiological
information from participants, through a health behavior assessment
questionnaire, that is helping us to continue to strengthen the coaching
capabilities and personalized messaging,” said Douglas J. McClure,
the Center’s Corporate Manager for Technology and Operations. “The
stronger the rules, the better the interventions we can offer, the better
the results for both employees and employers.”
Brian Hicks, Executive Director at Partners Research Ventures & Licensing,
was a little surprised when his blood pressure screening results were
high. “I was never focused on my blood pressure. I’m using SmartBeat to
be more aware of my health, make some lifestyle changes like reducing
salt intake, and hopefully avoid having to take medication or other
problems down the road.”
For Genzyme Corporation, one of the world’s leading biotechnology
companies, SmartBeat is being offered as a self-care program to help
employees better monitor personal exercise and activity regimens and
manage their weight, as part of a pilot study with the Center.
“What attracted me to SmartBeat is that it supports our objective to
provide programs to help our employees make sustained behavior
change to improve their health,” said Susan Mackiewicz, Genzyme’s
Senior Vice President, Compensation, Benefits and HR Systems. “This
self-management program offers each person a feedback loop, which
can be an important motivator. It also gives the employer an aggregate
level of information to measure success.”
“Finding ways to encourage and maintain healthier behavior among
employees is a definite trend in employer benefits. Programs like
SmartBeat, featuring immediate feedback for employees, smart
technology and convenient, 24/7 access, are tools that both employers
and employees will embrace,” she added.
Looking to the future, the Center is already formulating additional
features and enhancements to SmartBeat, such as new mechanisms
for delivering coaching, using cell phones and other devices. And, with
growing insights on how individuals want to be coached, SmartBeat is
developing more highly customized coaching and messaging options.
An economic rewards option is also in development, which can be
customized by employers, to offer financial incentives to employees.
In addition to hypertension and activity monitoring, SmartBeat will also
be featuring self-management programs for blood glucose and diabetes
monitoring and medication adherence next year.
Broadening Scope of
Patient Management Tools
I mproving care of chronic conditions is a major priority for healthcare
providers, patients and payers, as well as healthcare reform. Based
on the success of earlier connected health pilot programs designed to
deliver better care for patients with chronic conditions, the Center has
also launched programs for diabetes and hypertension patients. These
two new programs help patients become more active managers of their
care and achieve better clinical outcomes.
DiabetesConnect and HypertensionConnect are available at several
primary care practices affiliated with Massachusetts General and
Brigham & Women’s Hospitals, and through the Partners Community
Healthcare, Inc. (PCHI) network of physicians and hospitals.
Practice-based monitoring via DiabetesConnect is being used by
nurses, diabetes educators, endocrinologists, nutritionists, primary
care physicians and other clinical care providers to help patients best
manage their diabetes. The program gives providers access to timely,
accurate patient data, and delivers customized educational information
and messages to patients. Particularly for newly diagnosed, difficult
to manage patients or those starting insulin therapy, DiabetesConnect
allows providers to more closely monitor patients with a goal of
achieving glycemic control.
“One of our patients frequently missed appointments because of his
job. He had a difficult time controlling his blood sugars and needed
more frequent intervention. He was one of the first patients we enrolled
in DiabetesConnect,” said Janet Morgado RN, BSN, CDE, Hawthorn
Medical Associates, a Partners HealthCare affiliate and the largest
multi-center medical group serving southeastern Massachusetts (above,
with patient Conrad Richard). “His blood sugars are more consistently in
target range as a result of weekly communication, allowing for medicine
adjustments and improved insights into factors affecting blood sugar.”
Patients monitor and upload their glucometer data and enter
observations and medication changes in an online journal. Providers
have access to a patient’s up-to-date data and entries, and can send
secure messages to the patient, or change treatment plans without
waiting for a scheduled appointment.
“The traditional model of caring for patients with chronic illness puts the
doctor at the center of the patient’s care. That’s an old model. The new
model of caring for chronic illness, whether it’s diabetes, hypertension
or heart disease, is a patient-centered model of care,” said Michael T.
Myers, Jr., MD, MBA, Medical Director, Hawthorn Medical Associates. “I
see DiabetesConnect as a very elegant biofeedback loop of information,
to help patients better understand their disease processes, symptoms
and warning signs, medications and also how diet, exercise and other
lifestyle choices can affect their clinical outcomes and quality of life.”
When Jerry Bello (left), an
administrator at a Boston law firm,
was first diagnosed with Type 2
diabetes, he knew he had to modify
his diet, but didn’t know which foods
to eat and which to avoid. And,
logging his daily diet and glucose
readings in a paper journal was
inconvenient and not always useful.
“By taking my fasting blood sugar
reading in the morning, and again
after meals, and recording meal
information in my online journal, I
could quickly and easily see what foods were good for me and which
were not,” Jerry said. “I was able to significantly change my diet thanks
to this program and, as a result, my glucose levels are down in the
normal range.”
Conrad Richard, an 85-year-old retired college professor, and the owner
and operator of a cranberry bog, doesn’t have time to make frequent
visits to a doctor’s office. “Controlling my diabetes is easier and I have
more time to walk the bogs and tend to my business. This is a first class
program. It makes me feel successful when I see my glucose readings in
the normal range.”
In the second half of 2009, patients at several Partners Community
Healthcare affiliates began enrolling in HypertensionConnect.
Patients enrolled in the two programs will be evaluated on knowledge of
their disease, ability to self-manage, confidence levels, relationship with
the provider and clinical outcomes. The Center for Connected Health will
also measure provider satisfaction, level of use, workflow implications,
patient identification strategies and the program’s impact on treatment
decision-making.
“We are particularly excited about these programs, beyond the obvious
clinical and patient care advantages, because this also allows us to
test a new care delivery model in anticipation of potential new methods
of physician reimbursement,“ said Alex Baker, Chief Operating
Officer, PCHI.
 “This program has
tremendous promise for
improving the care for
patients and potentially
for improving access to
office visits for new or
other existing patients.”

Connected Health

Converges with High Performance Medicine

F ive years ago, Partners HealthCare launched a program called High Performance Medicine,
a system-wide initiative to ensure the delivery of care anywhere in the network is uniformly
high quality, safe and cost effective.

In 2009, the Center’s Connected Cardiac Care program was integrated

into this landmark initiative, to help Partners heart failure patients lead
healthier lives and stay out of the hospital. All of our sickest heart failure
patients are now automatically enrolled in Connected Cardiac Care,
unless otherwise indicated by their physician.

Connected Cardiac Care is a patient program, with self-management as

its ultimate goal. It combines telemonitoring, coaching and education
to foster greater patient engagement, just-in-time nursing interventions
and reduce hospital readmissions. Using home monitoring equipment
to transmit weight, heart rate, pulse and blood pressure, patients also
answer a set of questions about symptoms each day. Alert levels are set
by the patient’s physician, and a telemonitoring nurse reviews the data
and provides intervention, in real time and as needed.

Preliminary data shows a statistically significant decrease in the re-

hospitalization rate for heart failure patients following participation in
Connected Cardiac Care.
Members of the Connected Cardiac Care team
“This program has tremendous promise for improving the care for patients and potentially for
improving access to office visits for new or other existing patients,” noted Elizabeth Mort, MD,
Massachusetts General Hospital. “I have a patient who was enrolled in the program recently.
She had been in my office or her cardiologist’s office just about weekly and now she is regularly
monitored and managed from her home. As I result, I see her every six weeks and that has
opened up appointment slots for other patients who need to get in to see me.”

According to Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, the Center’s Director, over 800 patients were monitored in
2009, with 1,000 expected by early 2010. “This is significant because, in light of payment reform,
this program is clearly addressing the need for more efficient and effective patient-centered care
and helping to reduce variation in the quality and cost of care.”

Helping Patients Navigate Their
Care with
Text Messaging
T he Center for Connected Health is exploring new models of care to
help providers stay connected to patients during their care, including
applications for the use of text messaging, in several new initiatives.
Sunscreen Reminders
To address the need for effective and patient-
friendly adherence tools to support the regular
use of sunscreen, the Center developed a
reminder service using cell phone text messages.
At the end of the six-week study, the 35
subjects receiving text message reminders
had a significantly improved rate of sunscreen
application (56%) compared to the same number
of subjects who did not receive reminders (30%).
Nearly 70% of participants in the reminder group
reported that they would keep using the text
message reminders after the study, and almost
90% reported that they would recommend the
text message reminder system to others.
“Motiva
for prov
about t
I n collaboration with Lynn Community Health Center serving the
north shore of Boston, and Partners Community Benefits, the Center
for Connected Health is implementing two pilot programs to explore
the benefits of text messaging as a potentially vital enabler to patient
engagement in their care plan.
Encouraging Prenatal Care
Targeting pregnant young women, a text messaging educational
program is being piloted to promote good prenatal care. Text messages,
providing motivational support, education and ongoing reminders for
prenatal visits, are being delivered to participants at least once a week
over the course of twelve months. Messages are customized based on
first, second, third trimester and the first month postpartum.
Support While Battling Addiction
Patients battling opioid addiction require frequent testing, weekly
office visits, support services and outreach, particularly during the early
stages of treatment. Text messaging may be a low cost option to extend
communication and could play an important role in keeping these
patients feeling connected and providing reminders for testing and
visits critical to success. During this 12 month pilot, messages will be
sent to patients on suboxone treatment, tailored to each patient’s phase
of therapy.

“Motivational and educational text messaging is an important way for

providers to help patients be informed, make good decisions about their
health and stay more engaged in their care. We want to be where the
patient is,” said Khinlei Myint-U, the Center’s Corporate Manager for
Product Development and Communications. “Based on early research
results and patient feedback, we are encouraged to see that text
messaging may successfully support adherence to medication and care
plans, for a range of patient populations.”

Improving Adherence
One Pill at a Time
U sing a combination of technologies – from text messaging to high-tech pill bottles and online support – the Center for
Connected Health is creating novel programs to help patients take their prescribed dose of daily medicine.

Working together with Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Planned Parenthood, the Center developed a medication
adherence study, combining text messaging and a ‘smart’ pill bottle, to remind women just starting to take oral
contraceptives, to take their medication each day. The ‘smart’ pill bottle sends a reminder message to take the medication,
if the bottle has not been opened at the appointed time. The 82 study subjects also had access to an online diary. Results
are expected to be published in early 2010.

A new adherence program was launched in the second half of the year, to evaluate the use of technology and incentives
to improve medication adherence for patients with high blood pressure. This six month study, enrolling 130 subjects, will
compare the use of a ‘smart’ pill bottle that tracks adherence, with a combination of daily electronic reminders, feedback
from a telemonitoring nurse and financial incentives for patients taking their medication on time. Outcome measures will
include rate of adherence, as well as improvements in clinical parameters, such as blood pressure readings.
ational and educational text messaging is an important way
viders to help patients be informed, make good decisions
their health and stay more engaged in their care.”

On the Right Track to

Healthy Behavior
L everaging new technologies to support long-term changes in diet, featuring
motivational coaching, personalized feedback, goal-setting and education, can be
an accessible and inexpensive solution to the obesity epidemic.

Recent studies have shown that the use of pedometers (wearable devices that capture
step count) and web-based interventions may increase activity, which can lead to
reductions in body mass index and blood pressure.

The Center for Connected Health, in a first-of-its-kind study, set out to measure the
impact of combining a pedometer with the Virtual Coach, a computer-animated
exercise advisor, as part of its StepUp activity monitoring program. Created by Timothy
Bickmore, PhD, Assistant Professor at Northeastern University, the Virtual Coach is entirely automated, and communicates
with subjects using simulated face-to-face conversation, including verbal and non-verbal behavior. The computer avatar
follows an algorithm-driven script with the aim of increasing daily activity levels.

In this 12 week StepUp program, providing overweight subjects with access to the Virtual Coach, in addition to a
pedometer and website, produced significant improvements in step count compared to use of a pedometer and website
alone. Based on average step count, the control group walked about a half mile less by the end of the study. In contrast,
the step count for the intervention subjects (with access to the Virtual Coach) remained relatively steady over the course of
the study.

“We gained important insight into the use of automated coaching as a valuable addition to existing automated
applications, to promote lifestyle change and increase activity,” said Alice J. Watson, MD, MPH, Corporate Manager,
Research and Program Evaluation at the Center. “We will use this information to build a technology platform for coaching
rules in the management of other chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart failure and medication adherence. Given
the growing burden of chronic disease and the shortage of providers, such applications may prove useful adjuncts to
conventional office based care.”
“We are already
seeing that this
connected health
program is improving
patient care.”

Connected Critical Care

in the PICU
I n a pioneering home-to-hospital program, the Center has teamed
up with the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Massachusetts
General Hospital to improve communication and enhance the multi-
team management of young patients requiring critical care during
nights and weekends.

Using a mobile telemedicine station in the PICU, that can be moved

from bedside to bedside, and home-based telemonitoring stations
for each attending physician, this new program, launched in mid
2009, enables more efficient and effective management of patients
requiring comprehensive and sophisticated care. Through real-time
video communication, the on-call attending physician, when at home
during the overnight or weekends, can now examine the patient, and
communicate directly with the PICU staff, respiratory therapist, other
specialists and even the child’s parents.

“We are already seeing that this connected health program is

significantly improving patient care, team communication and staff
responsiveness during evening hours and weekends when our attending
physicians, ultimately responsible for patient care, have left the
hospital to go home,” said Natan Noviski, MD, Chief, Pediatric Critical
Care Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital (right). “Because the
attending physician can remotely examine the patient and communicate
with the on-site staff directly, decision making can be enhanced and
the quality of care improved.”

There have been several added benefits of this program. Attending

physicians now have the ability to initiate communication with the
hospital team, giving the attending doctor a better perspective on
the patient’s condition. It also provides a more robust teaching
opportunity, allowing residents to be more involved in the team
approach essential in an intensive care environment. Importantly,
parents may feel more confident in their child’s care and more
connected to the treating physician.
Mind Body Medicine Taught in a

Virtual Environment
T he Center for Connected Health, Massachusetts
General Hospital Department of Neurology and
the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine
together created a unique project to determine if a
stress reduction method, known as the Relaxation
Response, can be successfully adapted and taught to
subjects in Second Life, an online virtual world. The
Relaxation Response represents physiologic changes
derived from a variety of meditation methods
that lead to an alert, receptive and non-thinking
awareness.
Twenty-eight participants attended an average of
6 of the 8 scheduled sessions during the eight week
pilot program. Nearly 70% of participants reported
a very good or excellent experience with the virtual
program.
“I would probably not go to a study like this with strangers in the real
world – the virtual space felt like a very safe environment – you can
control what you reveal about yourself,” reported one participant.
“There is no way I would have done this if I needed to participate in class
physically, plus think about the travel time.”
Two features of the program including the labyrinth and “enlightenment
crown” (left), were designed specifically for this virtual environment.
Participants were able to control their avatars in a slow ‘walking
meditation’ around the labyrinth designed by the study team,
helping subjects to hold their awareness in the moment and focus on
mindfulness meditation.
The “enlightenment crown” is an animation that, when activated by
the participant, triggers the formation of a small white cloud over their
avatar’s head, which gradually grows into a large golden light. The
participants were asked to play this animation during guided meditation
once they had achieved a desired mental state.

“Seeing more than one avatar glow with a crown was significant…
We were a community of strangers all wanting the same thing – trying
to achieve a sense of wholeness. I felt connected,” said another study
participant.

POSC
Expert Recommends Staying the Course for Cancer Patient

W hen a physician in Italy was diagnosed with a brain tumor, he and colleague Eleonora Benetti, MD, PhD, turned to
the Partners Online Specialty Consultation service (POSC) for a second opinion. “I had read a review on brain tumors
in the New England Journal of Medicine, by Drs. Wen and Kesari. I contacted POSC and received a very prompt response
and we were able to obtain the opinion of Dr. Kesari,” said Dr. Benetti. “This kind of second opinion is very important for
patients and physicians, especially in diseases such as cancer and other life threatening conditions.”

POSC has connected more than 10,000 patients with life-threatening or unusual diagnoses, and their treating physicians,
with over 4,000 leading specialists at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber/
Partners Cancer Care. Via the Internet, a patient receives a highly-qualified second opinion from a medical specialist, and
the local physician gains access to expert resources to help them manage their patient’s care.

While many experts in Europe and the U.S. were prescribing a change in treatment, Dr. Kesari recommended no change
be made. “It was easy for me to review the patient’s clinical information right from my desk, and provide a comprehensive
opinion based on my clinical experience and the latest advances in science,” said Santosh Kesari, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Assistant Professor of Neurology and Medical Oncology, Harvard
Medical School.

Based on Dr. Kesari’s recommendations, the patient stayed the course of therapy and is doing well.

“Dr. Kesari has been very responsive and his counsel has been very useful, guiding us in the best therapeutic options for this
patient and confirming treatment decisions. The patient here in Italy has benefited greatly from his expertise and wisdom,”
noted Dr. Benetti.

“I have been working with POSC for several years,” added Dr. Kesari. “It is a great option for patients to get a second
opinion without having to travel, and it has been a very positive experience for me.”
Building the Connected Health

Community
Up from Crisis: Overhauling Healthcare Information, Payment and Delivery in Extraordinary Times

A s our nation tackled the difficult challenge of healthcare reform, the sixth annual Connected Health Symposium,
hosted in October by the Center, emerged as a pivotal global ideas conference on healthcare and information
technology. Thought leaders in business, government, academia and medicine engaged in two days of compelling
discussion on the transformative changes required to produce true reform.

One thousand-plus attendees convened in Boston to debate payment redesign, new paradigms in care delivery, wellness
and prevention strategies, and the latest in information technology applications.

“Healthcare is moving beyond the hospital and clinic and into the day-to-day lives of consumers and patients.
Telecommunications and information technology - computers, cell phones, the Internet, sensors, personal service robots -
aid and abet in the transformation,” says Joseph L. Ternullo, JD, MPH, Associate Director, Center for Connected Health, and
the Symposium’s Founding Chair. “At this year’s Symposium, ideas were tested, deals struck and collaborations launched
by some of the world’s most inventive thinkers in the field.”

During a lively opening keynote, Stuart Altman, PhD, Professor of National Health Policy, The Heller Graduate School for
Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, considered the implications for connected health in health insurance
and payment reform.

The morning continued with a fascinating “Conversation on the Policies and Politics of Healthcare Reform.” The insight
into Congress’ momentous healthcare debate was almost literally up to the minute, thanks to speakers U.S. Congressman
Edward Markey (D-MA) and James Mongan, MD, CEO of Partners HealthCare, and previously Associate Director of the
Domestic Policy Staff in the Carter White House.

Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, Professor of Medical Sociology at Harvard Medical School, co-author of Connected:
The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, and one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most
Influential People in the World in 2009, provided a provocative look at how social networks influence behavior, habits and
health. His data suggests that good things (happiness, altruism) and not-so-good things (violence, obesity, depression,
smoking, drinking) spread person-to-person, via a kind of social corruption.

In the opening keynote on the second morning, Jason Hwang, MD, MBA, Executive Director of Healthcare, Innosight
Institute, and co-author with Clayton Christensen of The Innovator’s Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care,
proclaimed bluntly that the business of healthcare is outdated. “We need to create new professions, new systems of care,
and new methods of payment. Revamping reimbursement can spur innovative uses of information technology, and the
right reimbursement and the right IT together can bring down costs while enhancing quality.”

Peter A. Ubel, MD, George Dock Collegiate Professor of Medicine, Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences in Medicine,
University of Michigan, used his keynote to analyze consumer and physician decision-making through the lens of behavioral
economics, with eye-opening results.

This year’s Symposium was the largest and most thought-provoking in our history. The Center is proud to be the host of
this destination event for movers and shakers in healthcare transformation.
European Centre
for Connected Health

T he term connected health is now used to describe a range of

technology-enabled initiatives. It’s been adopted by several companies,
the State of California, and by European thought leaders, as a way of
characterizing their work in healthcare innovation.

The Center is pleased to support efforts to expand the reach and impact of
connected health strategies. Most recently, Dr. Joseph Kvedar and Joseph
Ternullo joined others from Partners HealthCare, Massachusetts government
officials and healthcare leaders from a number of European nations, at
a conference to mark the opening of the European Connected Health
Campus.

“We were proud to be a part of this event, which helped to establish

Northern Ireland as a focal point for advancing connected health in
Europe,” added Dr. Kvedar.

LinkedIn
Group

E arly in 2009, the Center formed the

Connected Health Community LinkedIn
group in order to further discussions on
connected health and to increase networking
in the field. The group has quickly grown
to over 2,000 members and features lively
discussions and the latest news on connected
health and related areas.
Selected Recent Publications
Watson AJ, Kvedar JC, Rahman B, Pelletier AC, Salber G and Grant RW.
Diabetes Connected Health: A Pilot Study of a Patient and
Provider-Shared Glucose Monitoring Web Application. Journal of
Diabetes Science and Technology. 2009: 3(2): 345-352.

Idriss SZ, Kvedar JC and Watson AJ. The role of online support
communities – expanded social networks are beneficial to
patients with psoriasis. Archives of Dermatology. 2009: 145(1): 46-51.

Watson AJ, Williams CM, Bergman H and Kvedar JC. Evaluating

electronic visits for remote management of acne: Clinical
outcomes are equivalent to conventional care. Journal of the
American Academy of Dermatology. 2009: 60(3,S1): AB88.

Armstrong A, Kimball AB, Watson AJ, Kvedar JC and Kazanis M.

A randomized controlled trial evaluating adherence to sunscreen
using electronic monitoring and text message reminders. Journal
of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2009: 60(3,S1): AB88.

Bello H, Linton D, Senelly M, Baim M, Milik M, McClure D, Watson A and

Hoch D. Delivering Real Life Care in a Virtual World. Telemedicine
and e-Health. 2009: 15(s1): P340.

Pena V, Watson AJ, Kvedar JC and Grant RW. Mobile Phone

Technology for Children with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes: a
Parent Survey. Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology (In Press).

Recent Honors and Appointments

In 2009, Dr. Joseph Kvedar, the Center’s Founder and Director, was
honored by the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) with its
Individual Leadership Award, recognizing his significant contributions
to the advancement of connected health and telemedicine. He was also
inducted into the ATA College of Fellows.

Dr. Kvedar was also recognized as an influential and dynamic leader

contributing to New England’s innovation economy, by the journal Mass
High Tech.

Douglas McClure, who oversees the Center’s technology and

operations, was elected Secretary and Board member of the Continua
Health Alliance, an organization dedicated to enabling interoperable
healthcare products and solutions worldwide.
About the Center for

Connected Health
Joseph C. Kvedar, MD
Director
jkvedar@partners.org

Joseph L. Ternullo, JD, MPH

Associate Director
jternullo@partners.org

Douglas J. McClure, MIM

Corporate Manager
dmcclure@partners.org

Khinlei Myint-U, MBA

Corporate Manager
kmyint-u@partners.org

T he Center for Connected Health is creating effective, new

solutions and innovative interventions to deliver quality
patient care outside of the traditional medical setting. Our
Alice Watson, MD, MPH
Corporate Manager
programs use a combination of remote-monitoring technology, ajwatson@partners.org
sensors, and online communications and intelligence to improve
patient adherence, engagement and clinical outcomes.
Follow us on Twitter:
Participants in our programs are patients and providers at @connectedhealth
Partners-affiliated practices and hospitals throughout New @jkvedar
England. Forward-thinking employers are also implementing
our connected health solutions, to help employees better
manage their health, contain healthcare spending and improve
productivity and satisfaction.

The Center also offers expert online second opinions, enhanced

medical education and training, and engages in innovative
research to discover new pathways to better care, including
the use of virtual worlds and online coaching. Established Our programs use
in 1995, the Center for Connected Health (formerly Partners
Telemedicine), is a division of Partners HealthCare in Boston, a combination of
founded by Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General
Hospitals. remote-monitoring
• The Center’s website, www.connected-health.org, is a technology,
leading online destination for forward-thinking healthcare
providers, policy leaders and other healthcare executives sensors, and online
seeking dynamic content, interactive discussion and an
exchange of ideas in the field of connected health. communications
• Partners Online Specialty Consultations (www.econsults. and intelligence
partners.org) has helped more than 10,000 patients with
a life-threatening or unusual diagnosis, and their treating to improve
physicians, gain online access to thousands of leading
specialists at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and patient adherence,
Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care.
engagement and
• Collaborative Media Services provides video-conferencing
and streaming media services – including podcasting, web clinical outcomes.
conferencing and cross-platform video on demand – that
facilitate teaching and learning for clinicians and patients
worldwide. Visit www.collaborative-media.partners.org
for more information.
Center for Connected Health in the News

“The Future of Health Care is Today”

“EMRs alone cannot
NextGenWeb, January 5, 2009

reform healthcare,
Connected Health “Connected
chief warns” Health,

Healthcare IT News, January 23, 2009
Connected
“Remote diabetes testing could Reform”
curb medical, drug costs”
Science Progress, July 17, 2009

Employee Benefit News, March 24, 2009

“Doctors: A Tweet
a day keeps the
“Activating Patient- patients informed”

Centric Health Care USA TODAY, August 24, 2009

Reform”

Health Affairs, July 1, 2009

“New Study Finds

Text-messaging
Reminders Effective
in Improving
“How emerging wireless techs are Adherence to
transforming healthcare” Sunscreen Use”

Network World, September 8, 2009
American Academy of Dermatology,
March 5, 2009

“Skin-saving trick”

Good Housekeeping, August 2009

Center for Connected Health

25 New Chardon Street
Suite 400D
Boston, Massachusetts 02114

Toll Free: 888-456-5003

www.connected-health.org