Emerging Tech Panel Highlights Innovative Solutions at HTF Conference
Posted by Mike Allen
Website: Mobile Health Marketplace
Developers of five innovative new mobile health solutions were highlighted at the Emerging Tech panel at the recent Health Technology Forum Conference in San Francisco. Below is a quick rundown with links for more information:
1) Health Passkey addresses the very current issue of maintaining patient engagement upon discharge from the hospital. According to co-founder Luissette Figueroa of Health Innovators Systems, Inc., this service will help hospitals eliminate CMS re-admission penalties by sharing the patient’s medical record with providers, caregivers and patients and healthcare organizations.
2)Curatio helps those with chronic diseases find and participate in condition-specific online support groups. Founder Lynda Brown-Ganzert indicates that the app also includes a virtual coach, a health file and activity tracking.
Based in San Francisco and Vancouver, BC, Curatio has three releases coming out in the near future for cancer in young adults, cardiovascular disease in women, and thalassemia. The platform can be tailored for any chronic disease. According to Brown-Ganzert, primary marketing concentration right now is with health organizations, insurers and pharmaceutical companies with plans for the employer market to follow.
3) Lumo^ addresses what co-Founder Dr. Charles Wang calls the “$50 billion cost of back pain” with two products. Lumo Back monitors lower back slouching with a sensor laden belt while soon-to-be-launched Lumo Lift will track upper body posture using a small piece of jewelry. Both products alert users when they slouch and include other tracking capabilities and Smartphone apps to track progress.
Backed by Google’s Eric Schmidt and Yahoo’s Jerry Yang, Lumo^ is focusing on both the corporate and medical marketplaces.
4) EngageCare is working with Wellmark to develop a mobile app that supports an online “care circle” linking the patient with family members, physicians and the Wellmark case manager.
The concept for this product was developed last year when EngageCare won the 2013 Health Technology Forum Code-A-Thon.
5) First Warning Systems offers a “smart bra” for early detection of breast cancer. It is targeted at the millions of women with dense breast tissue that limits the effectiveness of traditional breast cancer screening.
This promising device is still in clinical trial. Many low-cost screening tools like this are being developed for for emerging markets.
These types of innovative new technology solutions will be a critical element in the drive to achieve what Health Technology Forum founder Pronoy Saha describes as his objective – “… to bring healthcare to billions, not millions”.
