When completed in fall 2010, each UVA Health House will be owned and occupied by a single woman with chronic health conditions. Each occupant's personal physician will determine a home monitoring plan, including parameters for their readings. All transmissions will be monitored by a registered nurse at UVA's Continuum Home Health Care. "If a patient's reading falls outside the acceptable range, we will be talking to her to see what might be going on and checking to see if there are any external contributing factors. We'll notify her physician, as appropriate," explains Continuum administrator, Maggie Short.

To facilitate Health House transmissions, Comcast will provide a broadband connection in addition to telephone and television services. Intel will equip each house with a Health Guide, a small, touch-screen device with remote monitoring and videoconferencing technologies that can also be used for patient education and other forms of information-sharing. Both companies will offer their services free of charge for two years.

According to Dr. Rheuban, the UVA Health House project represents a unique collaboration. "We're blending Habitat for Humanity's commitment to providing affordable housing solutions with UVA's interest in offering effective chronic disease management to patients. Having companies like Comcast and Intel donate their equipment and services to this project is an added plus. Innovative partnerships of this kind can help lower healthcare costs while allowing patients with chronic conditions to remain in their homes, feeling safe, comfortable and well cared for."

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