One of the reasons VGBio is one of Pathfinder’s favorite clients is because they show how four of the most powerful technology trends affecting healthcare (body area sensor networks, smartphones, cloud computing and big data/predictive analytics) can be used together to reduce costs and improve outcomes. VGBio technology enables the daily monitoring of patients with chronic diseases and provides early notification to clinicians of a negative change.
VGBio has been going strong, including presenting at TEDMED last month as part of The Hive, and having the The US Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Innovation recently produced a video describing their use of VGBio’s Vitalink:
According to Dr. Abdulfattah Saidi, Heart Failure/Transplant Research Fellow at the George V. Whalen VA Medical Center, “When we admit patients, and we take care of them, and then send them home, there’s a 20% chance that they will come back to the hospital within 30 days of discharge.”
Dr. Jose Nativi-Nicolau, Heart Failure/Transplant Cardiology at the George V. Whalen VA Medical Center, ads that “The benefit to the VA is to reduce readmissions and improve the care from hospital to home, and from home to clinic.”
Systems like VGBio are part of a growing trend of companies that combine bio sensors, mobile technology and bioinformatics to transform the management of chronic diseases from a reactive to a proactive care delivery model. Other examples include:
* Asthmapolis, which leverages the advances in sensor technology and mobile data monitoring to help people manage their asthma more effectively, in turn reducing the costs both for those suffering from asthma and for the U.S. healthcare system itself.
* Proteus Digital Health, whose digital health feedback system is powered by ingestible sensors, a patch, and bluetooth enabled smartphones.
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About Author, Bernhard Kappe is a Founder and President at Pathfinder.
You can find him on Google+
