Greetings, This posting was in my box this morning...... this is another angle on the impact that the internet, our computers, and health care for the future. Comments???? Mary Arnold RNC, BSN ***************************************************** NEW HAVEN, Conn., Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine, from the comfort of your own home, accurately monitoring your own blood pressure, temperature, pulse and other vital signs and interactively transmitting and discussing the results through high resolution video via a computerized, almost "Jetson's- like" home health support system. This may soon be coming to a home near yours. In conjunction with National Home Care Week, Howard Taylor, President, SNET Custom Business Group, today announced the "SNET LifeNet Solutions(SM)," SNET's new product and service line which will give SNET a major presence in the fast-growing health care market. SNET LifeNet Solutions is a platform designed to help customers save on health care costs while helping them retain a desired quality of life while under medical care, through the benefits of advanced technology. SNET, VNA Health Care Inc. and HealthTech Services Corporation, have formed an alliance to conduct a large-scale clinical trial of the first LifeNet Solutions initiative: Home Telemonitoring Service, a computerized, interactive patient monitoring and support system. The Service employs the HANC(TM) Home Unit (HANC Unit) and HANC(TM) Central Nursing Station and is connected through SNET's telecommunications network. The purpose of Home Telemonitoring Service is to enhance traditional home care and decrease emergency room visits and unscheduled hospital readmissions. SNET will announce the widespread availability of this service sometime next year. Home Telemonitoring Service was demonstrated today in real-time at SNET's New Haven headquarters. In a mock living room setting, a stand-in "patient" followed various audio prompts of the HANC Unit to illustrate its capabilities. In a calm, reassuring voice, the HANC Unit prompted the patient to conduct her own vital signs monitoring including blood pressure, pulse, temperature and pulse oxymetry. The VNA nurse made an interactive video visit and initiated phone contact with the patient when the patient did not comply with the HANC Unit's requests. All data, including high resolution video images of the patient, was transmitted via SNET phone lines to a remote Central Nursing Station at VNA Health Care. Complete with audio and video capabilities, the in-home HANC Unit will accurately collect and transmit a patient's clinical data over standard SNET phone lines to a Central Nursing Station, staffed 24-hours-a-day by specially trained VNA Health Care nurses. It will also assist in patient education, and prompt the patient to take medications and carry out scheduled daily activities. The HANC unit is the first home telemedicine product of its type to receive FDA clearance. In making this announcement, Taylor stated, "SNET is leading the way in providing advanced telecommunications technologies in health care to help improve patient care and manage spiraling costs." Craig Putnal, SNET Project Manager, Health Care, added, "This first clinical trial of Home Telemonitoring Service will give us the critical data that we need to offer it on a commercial basis." Margaret J. Cushman, President, VNA Health Care explained, "VNA Health Care is proud to help create a new future for health care, examining new technologies that will provide the best care possible for patients in the comfort of their own homes." SNET is a Connecticut-based independent telecommunications company reaching beyond its traditional borders to offer wire, wireless and information and entertainment services, including local, national and international calling; mobile communications and publishing, information and advertising. The Company is building I-SNET, Connecticut's broadband, information superhighway to serve all its customers. Founded in 1901, VNA Health Care is the most comprehensive home health and hospice agency in Connecticut. A non-profit, Medicare-certified Agency, VNA Health Care is accredited by both the Joint Commission of Accredited Healthcare Organizations and Community Health Accreditation Program. VNA Health Care, offers a complete range of traditional and high-tech services, in-home rehabilitation therapies and independent living services to residents throughout Connecticut. HealthTech Services Corporation, based in Northbrook, Illinois, is the developer and manufacturer of the hardware and software for Home Telemonitoring Service. HealthTech provides innovative at-home health care solutions that reduce cost, improve quality of care delivery, harness state- of-the-art technology and support patient independence. CO: Southern New England Telecommunications; VNA Health Care; HealthTech Services Corporation ST: Connecticut IN: HEA TLS SU: PDT