Karmanos Cancer Institute to Pilot Virtual Care Platform with Lifeguard Health Networks on National Caregivers Day

Virtual care platform helps patients and caregivers manage complex cancer care

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Feb 17, 2022, 10:00 ET

DETROIT and WAYNE, Pa., Feb. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute announces a strategic collaboration with Lifeguard Health Networks to pilot a program that provides patients and trusted caregivers an innovative, integrated digital care platform to help them manage cancer care at home. As the first cancer treatment provider partner for Lifeguard's Virtual Care solution, LifeguardMobile™, Karmanos plans to launch the pilot program this spring with its Thoracic Oncology Multidisciplinary Team and will use the application to connect cancer patients, caregivers and Karmanos clinicians through its remote patient monitoring application.

Karmanos and LifeguardMobile Platform Home Screen

"Lifeguard's ability to virtually monitor our patients for reported vitals as well as symptoms experienced in real time means we will be able to further enhance our care coordination to the home and allow our staff to maintain clinical connectivity between patient appointments," said Gerold Bepler, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of Karmanos Cancer Institute. "We look forward to enhancing the cancer journey through better care coordination using this novel at-home virtual care technology."

Lifeguard's Virtual Care solutions deliver remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) and remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM), and integrates with more than 20 sensors and wearables to track medication adherence, symptoms and side effects, vital signs, and elements of wellness. Based on clinical thresholds developed by Karmanos providers, the application has the ability to generate notifications when a patient exceeds a threshold or is trending toward a clinical event. Using secure communications technology, the Lifeguard platform will empower patients and caregivers to alert the Karmanos clinical team to consult via direct-to-mobile, messaging or video. This feature can help prevent a potential clinical decline by allowing patients to have their care managed remotely by care team members in real time.

For the Karmanos clinical team, the Lifeguard platform supports patient monitoring and virtual care management between visits and the longitudinal patient reported data informs a more efficient and beneficial in-office patient visit. With this longitudinal profile, Karmanos clinical staff can draw upon extensive data supporting enhanced care management, improving delivery of patient care.

Patients and caregivers access LifeguardMobile™ through a smartphone application available from the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store. The Lifeguard solution can be used by the patient or by an authorized HIPAA-compliant patient proxy to inform, communicate and report on patient health status with the healthcare team at Karmanos. Patient participation begins with a simple email invitation and installation of LifeguardMobile^™. Once installed, Karmanos-specific monitoring templates will be automatically provisioned to the patient's Lifeguard application.

"This strategic partnership with Karmanos will improve patient experience and health outcomes using our technology," said Danielle Guttman Klein, Co-founder of Lifeguard Health Networks. "We created Lifeguard's Virtual Care solution because our experiences as patients and caregivers told us there had to be a better way to bring the entire care team together. We look forward to a long and valued partnership with Karmanos to better serve patients, caregivers and providers on the journey to better health."

About the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute
Karmanos Cancer Institute is a leader in transformative cancer care, research and education through courage, commitment and compassion. Our vision is a world free of cancer. As part of McLaren Health Care, Karmanos is the largest provider of cancer care and research in the state of Michigan. For more than 75 years, our administrative and research headquarters, along with our premier specialty cancer hospital, have been located in downtown Detroit. Our 15 network sites throughout the state deliver market-leading cancer care and clinical trials conveniently to the communities where many of our patients live. Karmanos is recognized by the National Cancer Institute as one of the best cancer centers in the nation with a comprehensive cancer center designation. Our academic partnership with the Wayne State University School of Medicine provides the framework for cancer research and education – defining new standards of care and improving survivorship. For more information, call 1-800-KARMANOS (800-527-6266) or visit www.karmanos.org. Follow Karmanos on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

About Lifeguard Health Networks
Lifeguard Health Networks has created an innovative healthcare platform to reduce inefficiencies and disconnectedness, gaps in monitoring and evaluation, and incomplete and inaccurate information. Developed with the guidance and collaborative efforts of numerous medical and technology experts and subjected to the rigorous demands of clinical settings, Lifeguard's mobile applications help patients and family members bridge the gaps between the hospital and the home with the goal of improving health outcomes.

SOURCE Karmanos Cancer Institute