Ideal Life reports 50% reduction in hospital readmissions in test program

Donna Cusano

Here is an impressive result buried in a press release.  A post-discharge monitoring program at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center, which included Ideal Life’s wireless weight scale, helped to reduce hospital readmissions of CHF patients by 50%.  Ideal Life is a Canadian telehealth company that has developed wireless vital signs monitors for weight, blood pressure and glucose.  The problem with the release is that it is light on specifics–the design, size and duration of the test, for instance–heavy on generalities and boilerplate.  You must read well into page 2 to find the specific device tested.  The good news is that Saddleback will expand the model to COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)–but no specifics about which Ideal Life device will be used for this.  Should we lend them a copy of Steve’s Six Steps To Telecare Press Release Happiness?  Release.