Case Study: Qualcomm achieves reduced readmissions and improved rural heart-failure care with Vitality Institute

Qualcomm - Customer Case Study

Qualcomm, the San Diego–based mobile technology manufacturer, tackled the challenge of improving post-discharge care for congestive heart failure patients in rural Northern Arizona—a population including many Native American patients who face geographic isolation and limited access to follow-up care. Vitality (the Vitality Institute) documented Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach initiative, Care Beyond Walls and Wires, in its Beyond the Four Walls case study to highlight the community health challenge and the mobile-health approach used.

Vitality’s case study describes Qualcomm’s solution: provisioning 3G smartphones and wireless monitoring kits (blood pressure, weight, oxygen), solar chargers where needed, Zephyr-hosted telemonitoring, and daily oversight by Flagstaff Medical Center care coordinators with NIH and Verizon partnership support. According to Vitality, the 50-patient pilot cut readmissions by 44%, reduced days hospitalized by 64%, and lowered mean total charges per patient by 72% (about $92K); the hospital sustained the program and Qualcomm used lessons learned to inform Qualcomm Life and scaling plans.

Qualcomm