Every last Wednesday of the month, the KC Digital Drive Health Team invites local practitioners, entrepreneurs, technologists, and subject matter experts of various stripes to talk about a project or issue of relevance to watchers of the digital health care world.
Typically 10-15 representatives from local hospitals, nonprofits, tech firms and professional-service agencies attend, as well as entrepreneurs and app developers – all of whom share a common interest in how the Kansas City region is creating and delivering cutting edge tools to improve the healthcare system as well as help people lead healthier lives through technology.
A theme that has emerged in these series of talks is one that speaks to a wider struggle: That of empowering consumers to monitor and manage their own health.
Abhi Ray, founder of Heart to Heart Network, who spoke this past Wednesday, March 25, likened it to logging into your bank account online. Within seconds, you can check your balance, spending history, and overall financial health. Why, then, is it so hard do this for your physical health?
Taking the next step, if not only we as patients but also the doctors, nurses and clinicians who treat us could have 24/7 access to our health data, how could quality and immediacy of care be improved?
Abhi Ray of Heart to Heart Network speaks to the KC Digital Drive Health Care Team
With a focus on in-home monitoring for patients who suffer from chronic illness or recently underwent surgery, Heart to Heart is looking to open up the world of health data to both patients and practitioners with actionable results.
“We are creating a feedback loop between the provider community and their patients so the right action can be taken at the right time,” Ray told the group.
Heart to Heart’s system brings together devices, data analytics, software, and an institutional framework to create an all-encompassing solution for managing one’s health status through remote monitoring.
Here’s how it works: A patient takes a reading using a bluetooth device such as a blood pressure meter, glucose meter, weight scale, oxygen meter, etc. (these devices are sold as part of a kit to patient-customers). Data is transferred to the HtoH mobile app on the patient’s smartphone or tablet, and from there is sent to the HIPAA-complaint secure cloud server. The readings are then made available to providers via the Care web app, through which doctors and nurses can make decisions about the patient’s medical needs and communicate with the patient directly.
For example, if a diabetes patient has high blood glucose above the threshold, her doctor could receive an automatic alert and take appropriate action.
In a world constantly filling up with medical devices and mobile apps, Heart to Heart allow doctors to turn machine-generated data into useful information for their patients. Heart to Heart is also at work to develop predictive analytic models for the clinical community to use in heading off medical problems before they occur.
Check out a great video featuring Abhi Ray discussing Heart to Heart’s mission and services:
To find out more about Heart to Heart’s services and capabilities, visit hearttoheartnetwork.com.
To join KC Digital Drive’s Health Team meetings, introduce yourself to our coordinator, John Fitzpatrick, by sending him an email at jfitzpatrick@kcdigitaldrive.org.