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Health Care: Can an ambulance company change health care technology?

VERIHEALTH OFFERING MONITORING DEVICE AND BETTER VEHICLES

In a world where you can access just about anything from a cell phone, and even CDs have become archaic, much of the medical industry seems to be stuck in the age of paper.

Yes, there are heightened concerns about privacy and legal challenges unique to medicine that make electronic records challenging. And the focus of medical professionals is where it should be: on care, not process. But, slowly but surely, in hospitals and medical practices, technology is making is presence felt.

Though an ambulance service company might not be the first place you’d look for this kind of technological change, Verihealth Inc., serving all North Bay counties, wants to be a change agent, putting the plan into the company’s motto, ”Solutions in health care.”

One solution was inspired by a product most recognizable by eight simple words: Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up. Verihealth leaders decided they could do better than a single-function button worn on a necklace.

It may at first seem like a relatively negligible contribution to medical innovation, but the Israel-based vendor’s update on the familiar emergency button will actually prevent many injuries from happening and is just the beginning of the Santa Rosa-based company’s attempt to force more of the iPod-generation mentality into medical operations.

“It’s not really typical for an ambulance company to diversify in this way, but we wanted to create innovation, and I think we actually are better positioned to do that kind of on the periphery of the medical industry,” said Sean Sullivan, vice president of the company.

As one of its first ventures, the company introduced a personal emergency service system called RoutineMD, still in its infancy of distribution in America. The system includes motion sensors that can detect if the patient has fallen, regular medication reminders, concierge services and soon it will remotely monitor vitals like blood pressure and heart rate and deliver the results directly into an electronic medical record.

The system, which runs about $30 a month, sends alerts to a call center rather than directly to the police and includes a waterproof pendant with emergency button, motion sensor that attaches to a walker or belt loop and call box that sends automated reminders and live communication with operators who have the patients’ medical history and family and doctor contact information.

“We’ve seen the trends, and we felt like this really led the way in preventative care as opposed to just reactionary, which just adds to overcrowding in the emergency room,” Mr. Sullivan said.

“It can keep problems from turning into emergencies, and it allows them to be independent while giving their family a piece of mind.”

Also in line with its desire for advancement, Verihealth is in the process of replacing its traditional gas fleet with high-efficiency, Euro-diesel vans. The company has already replaced two in its 20-car fleet with the clean-burning Mercedes-engine emergency vehicles.

Other than its recent affinity for innovation, Verihealth has provided its core ambulance services in the North Bay for eight years and is the sole provider for seven hospitals in the region, though it works in other facilities as well.

Recently the company moved its administrative office to Santa Rosa from its Petaluma training center, which also moved to an expanded space.

The soon-to-be-completed Verihealth-Reach Training Institute moved from a 3,000-square-foot site on Southpoint Boulevard to a 10,000-square-foot space at 2190 S. McDowell Blvd. and will open this September.

Also, Verihealth has submitted paperwork for the creation of a nonprofit foundation, which it hopes to use to raise at least $100,000 for community projects.

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Submit items for this column to

D. Ashley Furness at 707-521-5257, afurness@busjrnl.com or fax 707-521-5292.