AT&T Supplies Wireless For Cardiac TelehealthAT&T Supplies Wireless For Cardiac Telehealth

AT&T and eCardio Diagnostics, a provider of arrhythmia monitoring solutions, have joined forces to combine mobile technology with cardiac monitoring devices for heart patients.

The announcement on Thursday calls for AT&T to provide eCardio with machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless data and mobile connectivity for near real-time, remote monitoring of cardiac patients. eCardio's monitoring solution on cardiac devices allows heart patients to recover at home rather than spend additional time in the hospital.

The partnership is further evidence that telehealth is increasingly being seen as a lucrative business opportunity for telecommunications companies in managing chronic conditions like arrhythmia, said Irene Berlinsky, IDC's research analyst covering multiplay services. She also noted that remote monitoring that notifies medical authorities when something is wrong allows intervention before serious damage is done, and said both companies can benefit from combining their technologies in this area.

"Telecommunications providers like AT&T provide the wireless, M2M connectivity necessary for telehealth to function. They are pursuing a variety of opportunities and business models in the space, one of which is to partner with technology makers like eCardio to deliver remote monitoring," Berlinsky said. "Such partnerships benefit the telco provider by opening up a new market, and they benefit the technology vendor whose solution is optimized to function on the wireless network."

Based in Houston, Texas, eCardio has implemented its monitoring solution on almost 10,000 cardiac devices with plans to deploy it across thousands more over the next year. AT&T's wireless connectivity for the monitoring solution allows doctors to have critical patient information sent to them almost immediately, as circumstances occur, helping them improve response times to heart issues.

"We're focused on providing a total solution to physicians and patients. AT&T is helping us implement innovative mobile technologies that are transforming the field of diagnostic medicine and advancing arrhythmia treatments," Andrew Arroyo, vice president of information technology at eCardio, said in a statement. "AT&T delivered the expertise and services we needed to create an end-to-end mobility solution that improves the patient experience and physician productivity."

Clinical productivity is improved by timely access to accurate patient information from any Internet-enabled computer, eCardio executives said. Not only does the solution provide a better patient experience, it can also help hospitals, health insurance companies, pharmacies, drug retailers, and research organizations lower their costs of treating arrhythmia patients.

eCardio offers an array of clinical services and leading-edge devices designed to simplify and streamline the process of arrhythmia monitoring. This allows physicians to make more precise diagnoses and enhance the follow-up and management of their patients. The company also said it has served thousands of patients suffering from heart rhythm disorders and provided physicians with leading-edge diagnostic innovations and solutions that optimize the flexibility, speed, and accuracy of cardiac arrhythmia diagnosis.