WellDoc's new diabetes tool targets home management
A developer of mobile healthcare IT solutions for people with chronic diseases is launching a home monitoring tool for diabetics in an effort to rein in skyrocketing healthcare costs and help beleaguered family practitioners.
WellDoc’s DiabetesManager System is directed at those with type 2 diabetes, a form of the chronic disease that generally affects those who are older and/or have unhealthy lifestyles. While those with type 1 (also known as insulin-dependent) diabetes generally receive their care from a specialist, many type 2 diabetics rely on primary care physicians who have a rudimentary knowledge of the disease – as well as a busy caseload.
“With $1 out of every $5 spent on diabetes, they’re driving a lot of the cost of the healthcare system,” said Ryan Sisko, CEO of the Baltimore-based company. “They face challenges in self-managing their disease and gaining access to the clinical community, while their physicians aren’t getting reimbursed for the things they do now. This is designed to help both.”
The DiabetesManager System, which received U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance in August, is designed to act as a coaching tool for type 2 diabetics and an analytics engine for physicians. The mobile health system delivers medication adherence and wellness information to patients at home, while gathering data for the physician.
“What we don’t want to do is bombard physicians with raw data,” said Sysko. “We want to be an analytics and coaching tool for both patients and caregivers” that allows them to improve clinical outcomes and drive down unnecessary healthcare expenditures.
In October, WellDoc announced a partnership with AT&T to market the DiabetesManager System through an internal initiative with a select number of employees, beginning in 2011. AT&T, which offers insurance to roughly 2.1 million employees, retirees and their dependents, sees this mobile monitoring solution as a key to improving lifestyles and avoiding emergency healthcare costs.
“Chronic diseases account for $1.4 trillion of our nation’s healthcare spending, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. We believe that the use of mobile technologies and smart networks can contribute to a healthier world, and disease management is an area where mobility can facilitate improved patient outcomes and reduced healthcare costs,” said Dan Walsh, senior vice president of marketing services for AT&T Business Solutions. “By embedding tools on one of the most pervasive and ubiquitous technologies, the mobile phone, we hope to quickly unlock the enormous potential of mHealth. We chose WellDoc’s clinically validated solution as the lead disease management mHealth offer because it is an ideal solution for any company providing healthcare benefits.”
Aside from providing WellDoc’s solutions to its workforce, AT&T will jointly market and sell the solutions to payers, self-insured employers and disease management organizations.
“The alliance between AT&T and WellDoc is a landmark catalyst for the field of wireless health,” said Donald Casey, chief executive officer of the West Wireless Health Institute. “The combination of two critical value chain elements – wireless expertise and clinical software excellence – is proof positive that the wireless healthcare space is rapidly approaching Main Street. These types of technologies have the potential to completely transform the management of our nation’s chronic disease epidemic.”
