VITAL SIGNS VIA BROADBAND: - Broadband Illinois

-46-In 2004, there were 63,800 patients in nursing homes whose primary diagnosis atadmission was CHF. 125 The studies above suggest that 63 percent of these patients could avoidnursing home care through home care and remote monitoring, Conservatively, I assume that allof these patients would require home care, at $28,000 a year; this is a saving of nearly $41,000from the national average cost for a year in a semi-private nursing home room. 126 These figuresimply annual savings of $2.7 billion a year (2008 dollars) in nursing home costs.As shown in the table below, the potential savings from telemedicine for patients withcongestive heart failure is even greater than for diabetes—over $10 billion per year.TABLE 6: POTENTIAL ANNUAL SAVINGS FROM TELEMONITORING FOR CHF PATIENTSEstimated SavingsFor CHF PatientsEmergency Care ExpensesHospitalization ExpensesNursing Home ExpensesTotal:$50 million$7.4 billion$2.7 billion$10.1 billion3. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease PatientsThe key benefit of telemedicine for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) is the ability it gives care providers to medicate patients using inhalers or othertreatments before their conditions require urgent care or hospitalization. COPD resulted inapproximately 1.2 million emergency room visits in 2005, and hospitals charged an average of$1,227 per visit, resulting in total preventable expenditure of $720 million per year. 127 On125. See NNHS.126. See MMMI Home Care Costs at 4-5, and see MMMI Nursing Home Costs at 4.127. See SEDD (in 2008 dollars).