["Saar Stroke Teleservice--pilot study for stroke after care with a home care platform]

In the German region Saarland a pilot trial has been conducted for the post-clinical telecare and rehabilitation of stroke patients in there homes by a cooperative network of local healthcare providers. For that purpose an e-home care platform has been developed by a combine of Fraunhofer institutes under the leadership of the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering. A network formed by a clinic, 2 general practitioners and an advice centre cared for 18 patients using the so-called PHS Homecare Platform for telemonitoring and virtual visits by videophone. (PHS: Personal Health Service--A research initiative of the Fraunhofer Society in the years 1996-2001). In the underlying feasibility study the telecare of stroke patients in the context of the German healthcare system has been tested and the e-home care platform has been evaluated.