Boston-based Healthrageous has inked a co-marketing deal with Telcare, developer of the FDA-cleared cellular-enabled Telcare Blood Glucose Meter (BGM), to integrate blood glucose readings collected from the device into Healthrageous' "personal health improvement" platform. The companies plan to market the combined offering to health plans and self-insured employers.
Here's how the company describes the platform: "The Healthrageous Personal Health Improvement Platform helps individuals modify their health habits and behaviors utilizing an evidence-based protocol (or ‘journey map’) for diabetes management. Individuals create an online assessment of health habits associated with managing diabetes and a personalized action plan to control their blood glucose. When an individual uses the Telcare BGM to take a blood glucose reading, that data will be seamlessly integrated into the Healthrageous ‘biometric scorecard’ to validate that their health habits and behavior changes are having a positive impact on their condition."
Healthrageous' "digital coach" will then identify and push personalized messages, alerts and other relevant content to individual users. The platform offers incentive tracking, team and individual competitions, informational videos, medication reminders, and an online HIPAA-compliant community.
Last November Philadelphia-based health insurer Independence Blue Cross let it slip that it was testing out Healthrageous' wellness platform in-house among its own employee population. It planned to use the pilot to determine whether it would offer it to its 3.2 million health plan members. At CES last month Ford announced that it was working with Healthrageous to integrate the health platform with some of its cars. Last May some 1,000 people were using the Healthrageous platform, according to a report in the Boston Globe. Healthrageous signed up EMC for its original pilots.
Telcare secured FDA clearance of its BGM device last August. A few weeks ago Telcare announced its first deal: MagnaCare, health plan that services self-funded employers in New York and New Jersey, signed on to make the device and its companion apps available to its members.
More on the Healthrageous deal with Telcare in the press release below:
BOSTON, MA, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 – Healthrageous, Inc., a digital health management company, announced today that it has signed a co-marketing agreement with Telcare to leverage the Telcare BGM, the industry’s first FDA-cleared cellular-enabled blood glucose meter. The integration of blood glucose readings collected via the Telcare BGM into the Healthrageous Personal Health Improvement Platform will provide consumers with a personalized, digital experience to enable effective control of blood glucose. This integrated, best-in-class diabetes self-management solution will be marketed to health plans and self-insured employers.
“It is imperative that we find an effective solution that engages and enables individuals to conveniently and effectively manage their blood glucose,” said Rick Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Healthrageous. “With a projected four-fold increase in Type 2 diabetes by 2050 and average medical costs reaching up to three times more for people with diabetes, in addition to the significant impact diabetes can have on quality of life and productivity, it is easy to predict the strain this will put on healthcare costs and resources in the future. We believe our integrated solution will enable individuals to effectively manage diabetes as demonstrated by controlled blood glucose levels. We are pleased to partner with Telcare on this important effort.”
The Healthrageous Personal Health Improvement Platform helps individuals modify their health habits and behaviors utilizing an evidence-based protocol (or ‘journey map’) for diabetes management. Individuals create an online assessment of health habits associated with managing diabetes and a personalized action plan to control their blood glucose. When an individual uses the Telcare BGM to take a blood glucose reading, that data will be seamlessly integrated into the Healthrageous ‘biometric scorecard’ to validate that their health habits and behavior changes are having a positive impact on their condition. The Healthrageous digital coach, applying its machine learning capabilities, will then identify and push personalized messages, alerts and relevant content to support each individual’s journey. In addition to the digital coach and biometric feedback, the experience includes incentive tracking, team and individual competitions, interactive video learning modules, challenges, medication reminders and trackers, and an online HIPAA compliant community. The Healthrageous Personal Health Improvement Platform is patent-pending.
“We are excited about the opportunity to work with Healthrageous and their unique lifestyle-focused solution, and applaud their philosophy to partner with consumer-facing apps and devices to provide health plans with comprehensive, end-to-end solutions that are integrated, evidence-based and dynamically personalized for each consumer,” said David Bjork, Telcare’s President. “The Healthrageous platform complements Telcare’s cutting edge wireless diabetes management platform. This collaboration is an excellent example of how the Telcare solution fits into industry’s most innovative efforts to change behavior and improve the health of individuals with diabetes and, thereby address the cost of managing this condition.”
About Healthrageous
Healthrageous, Inc., is a digital health engagement and management company that supports individual journeys to prevent and manage chronic health conditions via the web and a mobile app. It achieves superior engagement through its proprietary platform that incorporates personalized goal setting, health journey maps with gaming dynamics, timely biometric feedback and interactive digital coaching. The digital coach leverages multiple tools such as inspirational messages, recognition and incentives, challenges, social networking, trackers and reminders, and interactive educational content. Healthrageous is headquartered in Boston, MA, and its investors include North Bridge Venture Partners (Boston, MA/San Mateo, CA), Egan Managed Capital (Boston, MA) and Long River Ventures (Amherst, MA). For more information, go to www.healthrageous.com.
About Telcare
Telcare is a leading provider of mHealth solutions that leverage award-winning cellular machine-2-machine technology to bridge the last mile between patients and their caregivers in order to improve the care of chronic illness. Telcare’s first product, the Telcare BGMTM, is a cellular-enabled blood glucose meter designed to help the 28 million Americans and 100 million addressable patients worldwide who have diabetes. The Telcare BGM instantly transmits glucose values to a care-management server and provides immediate, personalized feedback and coaching directly to the patient. In addition to directly reducing cost of care by improving outcomes and preventing complications, Telcare creates an ecosystem of care that provides caregivers and disease managers with previously-unavailable actionable clinical data. For more information, visit the Telcare web site at www.telcare.com
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