Veterans Affairs picks 4 for $1B telehealth support contract

The Veterans Affairs Department has awarded four companies positions on a potential eight-year, $1 billion contract to help roll out systems and supplies for telehealth functions such as remote patient monitoring.

Cognosante, DrKumo, Medtronic Care Management Services and Valor Healthcare will compete for task orders to help the VA's connected care office deploy the systems and tools it needs to monitor patients' chronic health conditions while they are at home.

The VA's award notice posted Monday says the work supports at least 72,000 patients whose needs can include chronic care, acute care, health promotion, disease prevention and non-institutional care.

Awardees will also be responsible for providing prosthetic appliances in support of care coordination and disease management efforts.

Contracting documents available via GovTribe also detail the self-service aspect of this program, where veterans would use the telehealth technologies to upload data on themselves such as vital signs and clinical question responses.

The idea is to help them self-manage their condition and alert caregivers or other medical personnel to needs for active care and case management, including referral to a clinic or hospital for in-person care.