By TRACEY DRURY
tdrury@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1609

A $2 million private investment from the Middle East will boost plans by a Buffalo telemedicine firm, enabling expansion plans and the creation of up to 100 jobs this year.

Telemedicine largely relies on technology, rather than face-to-face contact, to provide assorted patient services.

Advantage Home Telehealth Inc. last week received confirmation on funds coming from a Saudi Arabian investment company. The money will help the company speed up hiring plans over the next 12 months as it expands relationships with local and national clients.

"The tipping point is now," says Brian Egan, owner and CEO. "We've coming a long way - it's been a hell of a struggle."

A year ago, company officials lamented the difficulty it faced finding investment capital to finance operations and fulfill contracts from interested customers. But with the economy continuing to improve and revenue coming in, he says that's changing.

"There's still not much investment or movement into startup or pre-revenue companies, but now that we're revenue positive, it's starting to open up," he says.

Egan expects to travel to Dubai by the end of the month to finalize details with Al Ghazali Investment LLC and then begin hire the first 10 to 15 clinical staff and a new chief information officer. Al-Ghazali Investment is the holding company of the Ghazali Bin Group of Companies, a partnership between the families of Abdulla Ghazali Bin and Mohan Valrani. It's located in the United Arab Emirates.

Joining Egan on the Middle East trip will be Keith Blakely, chairman of The InVentures Group Inc. and adviser to the company. Blakely says he's baffled why it hasn't received more support financially from area investors or clients.

"The financing represents that this is no longer a science project," he says.

Founded in 2008, the company's technology enables wireless medical monitoring equipment for everything from blood pressure and weight to medication compliance. The equipment is Bluetooth-enabled, allowing real-time monitoring by Advantage Home Telehealth's staff of nurses and technicians.

This isn't Egan's first go-round in the health-care equipment market: He is former owner of American Homecare Supply, a $12 million oxygen and medical products supply firm in West Seneca he sold in 2009.

At the new company, the technology makes all that equipment wireless, enabling patients to take it with them or move it from room to room without having to be tethered to a series of devices. The technology is designed to allow immediate response if patient numbers go off course or if they mix up medications or forget to take them - helping to reduce emergency-room visits, re-admissions and unscheduled doctor visits.

That's especially vital for individuals with chronic conditions, such as diabetes or kidney disease, who must test and track various conditions every day.

That was part of the appeal for People Inc., which is running a pilot program with ADHT for 10 clients who live at home but receive various services from the agency. Some of them wanted to live on their own in the community but were held back by their inability to take their medicines on time or the fact that they could not monitor their own health as well as they should, says Rhonda Frederick, COO.

"We feel that telemedicine has some huge implications for us, both for people with developmental disabilities and seniors," she says. "We think it's going to have more applications as a resource from an efficiency and economic impact view: The cost is minimal compared with having to send a person or a nurse out to the house to do it."

The market for U.S. telehealth spending is expected to reach $6.1 billion by 2012, with home care accounting for $5.6 billion. That's according to Datamonitor, an international data analysis group.

ADHT is poised to take advantage of that growth, with equipment that is Bluetooth-enabled and compatible with Android smart phones and tablets. It also meets privacy requirements. Videoconferencing technology will come next, allowing doctors to communicate with monitored patients as needed.

The company signed contracts with several new customers, including Guildnet Gold, a New York City-based insurance company; TelehealthCare, a California-based telemedicine company that provides live, interactive health care online; and Eternity Medicine Institute, a Las Vegas firm offering concierge care and age-management services.

In June, the company monitored 40 patients in Buffalo, New York City and Kansas City. By the end of July, the total should be closer to 525 - surpassing the 300 needed to break even, Egan says. And there's lots of potential for growth: TelehealthCare alone has 20,000 potential clients.

Additional contracts are in the development stage with health-care companies and insurers, as well as individual physician practices, such as a Cleveland-based bariatrics surgeon with clients around the country who require pre- and post-op monitoring. The company will also likely expand into the Middle East through a strategic partnership with Al Ghazali, according to Egan.

ADHT is currently housed at the Innovation Center downtown at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, where it expects to lease additional space as hiring begins in August.