Telemedicine in emergency home care--the 'Shahal' experience.

Shahal serves over 40,000 cardiac, pulmonary and blood pressure subscribers. The system combines emergency home care and telemedicine in a patient-initiated system geared towards the prevention of cardiac and pulmonary complications. About 150,000 calls are received per year. The median time from onset of symptoms to a call for help is 44 min. It is a unique system which has been shown to facilitate improved home health-care control, enabling patients to manage their own health condition and providing them with a higher quality of life and enhanced peace of mind.