Dr Neal Sikka, GWU

The McKesson Foundation announced the winners of six research grants it has awarded as part of its Mobilizing for Health initiative. The grants include $1.3 million in funds in total and each of the awardees will receive grants of around $250,000 for their mobile phone-enabled research project centered on diabetes management. The projects that the Foundation awarded make use of a range of mobile technologies and services, from text messaging (SMS) to "comprehensive" software programs.

Last year we interviewed Carrie Varoquiers, president of the McKesson Foundation, to learn more about the Mobilizing for Health grants program:

"[The McKesson Foundation] had been funding diabetes management programs at these clinics, and we continue to do that, but we realized that with our limited budget we were only touching 150 or 200 people at each clinic," Varoquiers said. "If we were to invest in research in mHealth that helps to answer some of the unanswered questions around mHealth, we could potentially affect millions of patients. We realized that there was a great opportunity for us to help build the evidence base for positive health outcomes. I think there is a lot of potential in mHealth to positively affect patients’ lives, in particular low income patients’ lives."

The six recipients of the grants include:

Drs Joshua Cohen and Neal Sikka of George Washington University received one of the grants to study the use of SMS messaging to reduce emergency department visits for people with diabetes. We mentioned Sikka last year for his innovative use of mobile phone cameras in emergency rooms.

Another physician at George Washington University, Dr Samir Patel received a $250,000 grant from the foundation for a study called "Enhancing diabetes and hypertension self-management: A randomized trial of a mobile phone strategy."

Dr Lawrence Cheskin of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health will use the funds to conduct a weight control-centered study called "Tailored Rapid Interactive Mobile Messaging (TRIMM) for weight control among the underserved."

Kevin Clauson, Pharm.D., of Nova Southeastern University will use the research grant to conduct a pilot study that assesses the impact of SMS (text messages) on medication adherence for Type 2 diabetes patients.

David Lindeman, MSW, Ph.D., of the Public Health Institute will conduct a study called "Patient-centered mHealth: New horizons in diabetes care at Family Health Centers of San Diego.

Finally, Drs Sanjay Arora, Michael Menchine, and Anne Peters, at the University of Southern California will use the funds to conduct a study called "Improving diabetes care for low-income Latino patients in the Los Angeles County healthcare system."

Update: The Foundation has $1.5 million set aside for these grants, but award a little more than $1.3 million for these six projects.

For more on the grants, read the press release after the jump.

San Francisco, CA – February 22, 2011 – The McKesson Foundation today announced the six recipients of $1.5 million in research grants as part of its Mobilizing for Healthsm initiative to improve the health of underserved populations with chronic diseases through the use of mobile-phone technology. The Mobilizing for Healthsm grants, of up to $250,000 each, will support studies on diabetes care and management at six esteemed U.S. institutions.

Mobile health, or “mHealth,” is a term used for the practice of medicine that relies on wireless devices, such as mobile phones, PDAs and remote monitoring devices, to improve patient care.

The studies will examine a range of mobile-health technology options from sending simple SMS text messages to patients to remind them to take their medications to a comprehensive mobile phone-based software program that is integrated with patients’ electronic medical records. Each study will be completed within one year, several will test bilingual (Spanish and English) messaging strategies, and all are designed around patient populations served by community health clinics.

“These studies are part of an ongoing Foundation effort to tie innovative technologies to low-cost, scalable health solutions in order to better help patients manage their chronic conditions,” noted Carrie Varoquiers, president of the McKesson Foundation. “Through initiatives like Mobilizing for Healthsm, the McKesson Foundation is committed to increasing access to affordable, high-quality healthcare for all.”

The first cycle of Mobilizing for Healthsm grant recipients are:

Joshua Cohen, M.D., and Neal Sikka, M.D., of George Washington University

SMS messaging to reduce emergency department visits for people with diabetes

Samir Patel M.D., of George Washington University

Enhancing diabetes and hypertension self-management: A randomized trial of a mobile phone strategy

Lawrence Cheskin, M.D., FACP, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health

Tailored Rapid Interactive Mobile Messaging (TRIMM) for weight control among the underserved

Kevin Clauson, Pharm.D., of Nova Southeastern University

Pilot study to assess the impact of SMS/text messages on medication adherence for Type 2 diabetes

David Lindeman, MSW, Ph.D., of the Public Health Institute

Patient-centered mHealth: New horizons in diabetes care at Family Health Centers of San Diego

Sanjay Arora, M.D., Michael Menchine, M.D., and Anne Peters, M.D., at the University of Southern California

Improving diabetes care for low-income Latino patients in the Los Angeles County healthcare system

The Impact of Diabetes

Diabetes poses a serious and growing health risk in the United States. According to the American Diabetes Association:

25.8 million American children and adults have diabetes (8.3% of the population)

79 million people in the United States have pre-diabetes

$174 billion was spent in the United States in 2007 on direct medical costs and indirect costs, such as work loss and premature mortality

Minority populations disproportionately suffer from diabetes and diabetes-related complications

The McKesson Foundation pledged to put diabetes management at the forefront of its Mobilizing for Healthsm grant program when it launched the initiative in April 2010, and will continue to focus its funding priorities on diabetes management and research through March 2012.

Letters of Intent for the next grant cycle are due on April 1, 2011. Interested applicants can visit the Mobilizing for Healthsm website for further details.

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About the McKesson Foundation

Founded in 1943, the McKesson Foundation envisions a world where affordable, quality healthcare is available to all. The foundation is dedicated to supporting McKesson employees’ community involvement efforts and improving the health of patients through improved healthcare quality, personal health management, and lower healthcare costs. To that end, each year the McKesson Foundation contributes more than $5 million to nonprofit organizations working in our communities.

Beginning in 2009, the Foundation’s funding area has been chronic disease management in the United States, with a near-term focus on diabetes. The Mobilizing for Healthsm initiative complements the foundation’s continued support of diabetes management programs at community health centers.