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ChronicCareIQ

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ChronicCareIQ

Matt Ethington

ChronicCareIQ

This week Jay and I sat down with Matt Ethington, CEO of ChronicCareIQ to learn how this technology company is providing physicians and hospitals with tools that empower them to better manage patients with chronic illnesses.  The Affordable Care Act has put in place measures around patient outcomes that can affect how much the provider is reimbursed for care they deliver.  Managing patients with chronic illnesses is time-consuming and requires much patient education and follow up to facilitate compliance with the recommended care plan.  The ChronicCareIQ platform not only provides the practice or hospital with an efficient tool for engaging patients, it also provides documentation of required patient contacts, along with current health status data such as glucose measurements, blood pressure, weight, and others.

Matt shared how he is a patient dealing with a chronic illness, Type I Diabetes.  His experiences along the way helped him see how care delivery can be somewhat disconnected at times and inspired him to think about ways to bridge gaps in communication and give providers a better way to know what is happening with their patient between visits.

ChronicCareIQ enables healthcare providers to keep tabs on fragile and chronic patients through their smart phones. Recognizing the impact on patient outcomes when effective chronic disease management measures are in place, Medicare has begun to reimburse for patient engagement performed through the platform, allowing providers to simultaneously automatically meet compliance requirements, and measurably reduce call volumes. Identified as a “Best Practice” by leading consulting groups and with patient engagement rates that exceed 80% on an average weekly basis, practices, hospitals, or health systems can identify decompensating patients in real time, manage risk to prevent unnecessary hospitalization or ED visits, and advance material steps with payment reforms.

Special Guest:

Matt Ethington, CEO, ChronicCareIQ  linkedin_small1  twitter_logo_small  facebook_logo_small3

ChronicCareIQ

Innovative Health Technology

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innovative health technologies

Bailey Ernstes, Jake Kazlow, and Jim Sullivan talk innovative health technologies

Innovative Health Technology

On this episode of Health Connect South Radio we featured two Atlanta companies developing innovative health technology.  We hosted Monitor Med Solutions and HealPros to learn about the respective problems their solutions solve.

Monitor Med Solutions was founded by several Georgia Tech students to create a device that would use bluetooth technology to give hydrocephalus patients real-time monitoring data regarding their intracranial pressure via their mobile devices.  Bailey Ernstes and Jake Kazlow, two of the co-founders, joined us to talk about their project.

As Bailey shared, as many as 1:500 babies are born with hydrocephalus, an abnormally-high intracranial pressure caused by a disruption in the normal flow of cerebral spinal fluid.  These patients require that a shunt be implanted that will facilitate modulation of the intracranial pressure and prevent the numerous neurological problems and even death that can occur when pressure rises or falls beyond certain limits.

The challenge for these patients and their families is that the shunt technology itself has not evolved much since its inception.  And, the shunts fail at a rate of roughly 40% of the time, typically due to occlusion.  In most cases, the only way the patients discover there is a problem is when they begin to show symptoms of increased pressure.

Monitor Med Solutions, an Atlanta-based start-up has developed a device that interfaces with the intracranial shunt and contains a bluetooth transmitter.  This enables the user to get pressure readings via an app on their mobile device, potentially allowing them to seek care before neurologic symptoms occur and/or preventing unnecessary ER admissions to seek care.

Jim Sullivan is CEO of HealPros.  This company saw a need for closing the gap in preventive care for patients with diabetes.  The diabetic population is at risk for blindness due to retinal damage that is caused by chronically-elevated glucose levels.  It can take years of asymptomatic progression of the retinal damage for visual changes to occur.  Because of this, many patients do not bother to seek out the recommended annual exams that could identify problematic changes early enough to do something about it.

HealPros utilizes teleimaging capabilities coupled with on-site technologists who can do exams in a physician’s office or even a patient’s home.  The company partners with health plans and physician offices to coordinate visits with patients and conduct the necessary eye exam.

They then communicate results to patient, doctor, and health plan company and can help facilitate getting access to appropriate advanced care if an abnormality is found.

Special Guests

Bailey Ernstes, CEO of Monitor Med Solutions  linkedin_small1  facebook_logo_small3  twitter_logo_small

Monitor Med Solutions

  • BS Biomedical/Medical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • National Merit Scholar
  • Campoamor Study Abroad Scholarship Recipient
  • Previous Research Assistant, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Jake Kaslow, Co-founder and CTO of Monitor Med Solutions  linkedin_small1

monitor med solutions

  •  BS Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Jim Sullivan, CEO of HealPros  linkedin_small1

healpros

  • BA, MA, Economics & Finance, State University of New York at Binghamton
  • Business Professionals Course, Linguistics and Business Philosophy, The Aji Network
  • Former Analyst, Goldman Sachs
  • Previous Owner, Medical Imaging Specialists

Rimidi

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Rimidi

Rimidi

This week we hosted the President and CEO of Rimidi, Dr. Luci Ide.  Rimidi is a healthcare technology company that is working to help patients and health providers better manage diabetes.  It’s an important endeavor—roughly 24 million Americans are diabetic and as many as 86 million more are pre-diabetic (slightly elevated fasting glucose levels).

Based on current trends, 1 in 3 persons will have diabetes by 2050.  And when you consider the costs associated with treating diabetes and the problems such as heart disease, stroke, and others that often come with it, as much as $.60 of every healthcare dollar are spent on this population.

The Rimidi platform is an application that allows patients to share sensor data from glucometers, fitness devices, and share nutritional data from apps such as My Fitness Pal with their providers via a portal link on the provider’s EMR.

The benefit of gathering real time health data and sharing it with the provider is that corrective measures can be taken sooner should trends show that glucose levels are not responding to the care plan as expected.  In this way the patient can more consistently maintain or improve their glucose levels and avoid damaging effects of high glucose such as neuropathy, renal failure, vascular disease, and others.

The company’s platform has been live for roughly a year and they are now actively looking for healthcare partners to deploy their Diabetes+Me application.

We also had a chance to speak with a patient ambassador, Joelle, for “Lights, Camera, Take Action On MS” by Genzyme.  This public awareness event/campaign is working to increase awareness about multiple sclerosis.  The event is coming to The Atlanta Marriott, Alpharetta, June 27, 2015, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM ET.

At the event, guests will have the chance to engage with experts and hear tips on how to manage their MS. Beverly Layton, Registered Nurse, will be at each event to discuss the emotional impact of MS and techniques to help people alleviate feelings of guilt or depression. Alongside Beverly will be Certified Life Coach Caroline Craven, who lives with MS and is skilled in managing the stress that comes with the disease. Medical Exercise Specialist Monique Acton will also be at each event to share tips on how people living with MS can stay active and maintain energy.

Special Guest:

Luci Ide, MD, President and CEO of Rimidi  twitter_logo_small  linkedin_small1  facebook_logo_small3  vimeo logo

Rimidi Diabetes

  • MD/PhD Emory University
  • Residency, Obstetrics-Gynecology, Magee-Womens Hospital
  • 2014 Recipient, Ross Baird Award for Excellent, Village Capital
  • Former Associate, Monarch Capital Partners

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Dr. Helen Gelly of Hyperbaric Physicians of Georgia discusses hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

This week we sat down with internationally-known expert on the subject of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Dr. Helen Gelly.  This treatment modality has been available to patients with poorly-healing wounds, thermal injuries, decompression sickness, late effects of radiation, and several other problems for decades.  And while there is a quality body of evidence supporting the use of this treatment for clinically-appropriate patients, many of the patients who could benefit from access to it never get to know it’s available.

This is due in large part to the fact that of ~159 US medical colleges, only ~30 offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy and wound resolution as taught specialties.  That means that approximately 85% of graduating physicians have had very little (if any) exposure to academic information about the modality.  The result is that they often miss opportunities to add the treatment to the patient’s care plan, which in turn delays (or even prevents) these problem wounds from healing.

Dr. Gelly shared information about the history of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and we talked about the physiology of what’s happening during the course of therapy.  We discussed a couple of major groups of patients whose clinical outcomes tend to be significantly improved with access to hyperbaric medicine, diabetic ulcer patients and patients experiencing persistent late effects of radiation.  The aim is to get credible information to the public so that both physicians and patients in need can educate themselves about it.  Atlanta is unique in that both inside the city and in numerous suburbs, patients can receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy in hospital-based or UHMS accredited free-standing programs.  It’s also paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance companies for these evidence-based indications.

Special Guest:

Dr. Helen Gelly, MD of HyperbaRXs  twitter_logo_small  google-plus-logo-red-265px  facebook_logo_small3  linkedin_small1

helen

  • Doctor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine
  • Internship/Residency: Pediatrics/Emergency Medicine at Emory University Affiliated Hospitals
  • Board Certified in Emergency Medicine
  • Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians
  • Fellow of the American College of Certified Wound Specialists
  • Subspecialty Certified Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine

Diabetes Prevention Planning Team

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 HCS3 1

Diabetes Prevention Planning Team

According to the CDC, as many as 28 million Americans have diabetes.  And as many as 1:4 of them do not realize they have it.  That means today, potentially almost 10% of the US population are dealing with this chronic disease that puts them at risk for a myriad of health problems (many of them deadly), including heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, limb loss due to amputation, poor healing after surgery, greater risk for infections, and more.  It’s clearly a serious problem.  And, with an ever-growing number of obese persons in the country, including a concerning number of young people, these statistics are likely to grow.  In light of these sobering facts, a number of key players within the community from government agencies to health care providers, and innovative companies are beginning to put significant effort into preventing diabetes.  In Atlanta, the Diabetes Prevention Planning Team is a group of forward-thinking executives, health experts, and political officers who are joining together to do just that.

This week we were joined in studio by Dr. Luci Ide, CEO of Rimidi Diabetes, and Karl Smith, PhD, Project Manager of Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential (GCAPP).  Rimidi Diabetes is a health technology company that has developed and launched an application that enables diabetes patients to track and share key health-related data points with the clinicians guiding their care.  With this information, the patients and providers are able to better monitor glucose levels and other indicators and determine how behavioral and medical treatment changes are impacting the patient’s condition.  Luci is one of the team members for the Diabetes Prevention Planning Team and she talked about how increasing awareness of the disease and how it can be prevented are important facets of combating diabetes.  She used the analogy of a bath tub, where how quickly it fills is determined by how much water flows out of the drain (patients dying as a result of the disease) versus how much is flowing in from the faucet (new diabetes patients).  She went on to discuss the fact that today, more patients are living longer and managing their diabetes better than in the past.  Our next challenge is to begin to decrease the number of new patients developing diabetes in populations where it can be prevented.

HCS3

Karl Smith, also a member of the Diabetes Prevention Planning Team, shared how GCAPP is working to engage faith-based organizations in Atlanta communities that have populations that are at a high genetic risk for developing diabetes in an effort to educate young people who live there on how and why they can reduce their risk.  He talked about how these communities tend to be “gymnasium deserts”, having few if any facilities that would allow kids to be physically active in a safe place.  He went on to share how these communities also tend to have limited availability of quality whole foods that are healthy choices that decrease risk of obesity and are more heart-/diabetes-friendly.

Our discussion focused on how the Diabetes Prevention Planning Team is working to pull more resources together to help reduce the rate of new diabetes patients in our communities.  We talked about how public service announcements are being put together by the county government, and how their team needs access to funding to support web development, additional PSA information, and more manpower to help handle some of the work necessary to grow the network of support/collaboration.  We hope our listeners share this information so that we can have a significant impact on this disease that is costly in its effect on our community’s health as well as financially.

Special Guests:

Dr. Luci Ide, MD, PhD, CEO of Rimidi Diabetes  facebook_logo_small3  twitter_logo_small  linkedin_small1  vimeo logo

Rimidi Diabetes

  • MD/PhD Emory University
  • Residency, Obstetrics-Gynecology, Magee-Womens Hospital
  • 2014 Recipient, Ross Baird Award for Excellent, Village Capital
  • Former Associate, Monarch Capital Partners

Mark Smith, PhD, Program Manager of Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential 

linkedin_small1  twitter_logo_small  youtube logo  Pinterest-logo  facebook_logo_small3

GCAPP

  • Doctor of Health Education, A.T.Still University of Health Sciences
  • MS, Exercise Science and Health Promotion, California University of Pennsylvania
  • Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
  • Exercise Is Medicine Specialist, American College of Sports Medicine

Diana Keough, CEO/Founder of ShareWIK.com  facebook_logo_small3  twitter_logo_small  linkedin_small1  Pinterest-logo  google-plus-logo-red-265px  

ShareWIK.com

  • Journalism Instructor/Guest Lecturer, Emory University
  • Member, Koles College of Business Advisory Board, Kennsaw State University
  • Former Front Page Series Writer, The Plain Dealer
  • Former Reporter/Commentator, WKSU
  • Co-author, “Building a Business, Building a Life: The Incredible Life of a Woman Business Owner”