Avera eCARE was presented with the prestigious Wellness Frontiers Award from The Healthcare Leadership Council on Friday, Nov. 13.
The Wellness Frontiers Award is a national honor that recognizes evidenced-based wellness programs that prevent disease and improve the well?being of a population. The goal of the award is to promote best practices and draw attention to existing wellness initiatives that demonstrate excellence and quality.
“Avera eCARE was chosen for this award because of their level of innovation combined with extraordinary level of impact they’re making on health care. This is a program that is truly making a difference,” said Michael Freeman, Executive Vice President of the Healthcare Leadership Council.
U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem was in attendance and presented the award to Deanna Larson, Avera Health Senior Vice President of Quality and eCARE.
“We’re honored to receive this award,” said Larson. “We think there are new frontiers yet to discover and serve, so this award is very exciting and invigorating to our team.”
Avera eCARE is a visionary, continuous-monitoring telehealth model that provides rural and underserved communities with 24/7 access to specialty care physicians, pharmacists and nurses.
“Avera eCARE began over 10 years ago with a recognition that the same vital specialty care that’s available in urban areas should be available in rural locations as well,” said Fred Slunecka, Avera Chief Operating Officer. “Today we’re serving 235 sites across eight states, have saved over $175 million in health care costs and impacted 865,000 patients.”
Avera eCARE leads the nation in delivering the broadest range of telemedicine services available from a single source—the eHelm located in Sioux Falls, S.D. Many organizations—including international groups such as NATO—look to eCARE as a model for telehealth.