EvoCare: a new standard in tele-therapy

Stud Health Technol Inform. 2004:108:228-34.

Abstract

The necessity for Integrated Care has been debated controversially and the influence of the legislator and the consequences for the medical device industry discussed sufficiently. In fact, the German health system has been suffering from a lot of problems like cost expansions, but only solutions and not discussions can bring a progress. EvoCare has established a new standard in tele-therapy in Germany. This has been possible because this system maps the clinical therapy process to tele-therapy (and not vice versa), it is extendable for virtually any medical field of application, and the user interface is kept so simple that people inexperienced with computers and even with motor deficits are able to use it. Accompanying the patients from the hospital to their homes, EvoCare allows for shorter hospital stays without loss in treatment quality and more intense training without increasing therapists' average work time per patient. The experiences that have already been made with the described system, especially in the area of neurological rehabilitation and orthopedic prevention, underline its advantages for all involved partners.

MeSH terms

  • Comprehensive Health Care / organization & administration*
  • Computer Communication Networks / organization & administration
  • Germany
  • Humans
  • Medical Informatics Applications*
  • Monitoring, Ambulatory / methods
  • Monitoring, Ambulatory / standards*
  • Quality Assurance, Health Care / organization & administration
  • Telemedicine / organization & administration
  • Telemedicine / standards*