Athelas Signs Contract with All California State Hospitals
Exciting news! Athelas has officially signed a major multi-hospital contract to provide immune monitoring services to Cal State hospitals. This project involving five hospitals, approximately 250 doctors, and almost 1,000 patients is set to roll out in three out of the five Cal State hospitals this November.
The project involves using Athelas systems to monitor Cal State Hospital patient’s blood work when receiving Clozaril, an antipsychotic medication.
Cal State Hospitals are one of the largest hospital systems in the country, and one of the top providers for patients on Clozaril and schizophrenic patients overall.
State hospitals provide essential psychiatric care to patients who are experiencing a variety of mental health-related conditions. Patients of state hospitals are court-mandated for treatment due to an established risk of harming themselves or others. Every patient is different, and the length of stay for the treatment ranges from acute short term stays to multi-year treatment.
Clozaril is an antipsychotic medication used to treat psychotic episodes and schizophrenia. Clozaril therapy is highly effective but must be closely monitored with regular bloodwork to watch for a potential decrease in white blood cell count. While traditional Clozaril monitoring requires invasive weekly intravenous blood draws, with Athelas, monitoring requires only one drop of blood and 3 minutes to get results.
With Athelas Cal State hospitals expect to be able to significantly increase the number of patients able to receive Clozaril therapy.
How Athelas Helps
With Athelas immune monitoring systems, more patients can begin Clozaril therapy without extra work for medical staff and inconvenience for patients. 80% of Cal State hospital patients are candidates for Clozaril therapy, but the barrier of continual lab work often reduces the percent of patients started on the medication. Patients who are initiated on Clozaril often have a faster and safer recovery than those who do not. Clozaril patients also are more likely to succeed in the transition to outpatient care settings.
Athelas immune monitoring systems can be used in the patient’s rooms, rather than requiring patients to go to the lab for bloodwork over and over again. This saves time and convenience to nursing staff, who can complete bedside testing quickly and easily.
This exciting project offers incredible benefits to Cal State hospital staff and patients, and we could not be more proud to be a part of this project.
