FDA approves MedApps wireless remote monitoring

June 05, 2009

03:11 pm

MedApps The FDA announced today that wireless remote monitoring system HealthPAL, which MedApss developed, has received 510(k) clearance, according to an email from the company.

HealthPAL is the small, portable dedicated device that MedApps uses to collect data from connected glucose meters, blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters and weight scales. The data is then sent over a secure server to an online portal like Microsoft's HealthVault or Google Health for caregivers, physicians or the patient themselves to view.

MedApps has conducted pilots at Cleveland Clinic and Baptist Home Health Network to test the system.

The HealthPAL device is "about the size of a cell-phone" and "its low cost enables remote monitoring to be available to large patient populations." MedApps explains that while it has some buttons for special features and set-up, the reading and data transmissions are automated: "The patient does not push any buttons, navigate any screen commands or touch the HealthPAL in any fashion."

"Our entire system is designed around a single criterion - increasing patient compliance," Kent Dicks, MedApps founder and CEO said in a statement. "Patient compliance is greatly dependent on simplicity, and simplicity helps drive costs down and reliability up. It's key in keeping patients engaged and healthcare costs in check, and its no coincidence that we have significantly improved patient compliance in all of our pilots."

In March 2008, MedApps founder Kent Dicks explained that the HealthPAL system allowed off-the-shelf medical devices like Bluetooth-enabled blood glucose monitors to transmit data wirelessly to cellphones, which then would transmit the data to Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault, or enterprises like large insurance companies. It seems like the mobile phone component is no longer a part of the company's plans -- at least for now.

For more, read the company's press release once it hits their site here.

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