Everyone knows how to stay healthy – eat less, move more. It’s actually making those changes to daily life that is the hard part.
The same is not true for people living with diabetes or heart failure or kidney trouble. Treatment plans are complex and often hard to remember, particularly if you’re not feeling well.
Filament Labs is building a Patient IO to make it easier for sick people to take care of themselves.
Launched at the end of February, the app takes complex treatment plans and makes them digital. It offers patients and providers tools to ensure that care plans are followed, including medication reminders and vital sign tracking, such as blood pressure.
For caregivers in home health settings, it provides access to care plans and other needed resources. It also allows a health system to push educational material, both print and video, to the app for use by patients or caregivers. The Patient IO app is HIPAA compliant and currently works on iPhones and iPads. An Android version is expected in May.
The company was founded by Austin-based Jason Bornhorst, who had been an IT exec at Expedia, and Colin Anawaty, who had developed apps used worldwide by search and rescue programs. The original product for Filament Labs was HealthSpark, a patient wellness tool that was offered as an app by insurance giant Aetna. Bornhorst said the feedback from customers inspired the two founders to refocus their efforts on people with complex medical conditions.
“We started the company to work on general wellness, helping people maintain a healthy lifestyle,” he said. “What we found is that customers were approaching us to help their chronic patients successfully navigate therapy.”
Bornhorst describes Patient IO as a care plan delivery platform focused on the long-term care market and patients with complex treatment plans. The first two customers using the products feature care settings that can be complex for both patients and caregivers. Corinthian Health Services in Texas will use Patient IO to guide patients through pre-infusion and post-infusion care. Arcadia Home Care in Michigan is moving its paper-based care plans to iPads, giving caregivers customized plans that can be updated in real time.
Bornhorst noted that in areas with complex conditions, patients and providers have traditionally had to understand and implement treatment plans based on complicated, paper-based materials.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
“We believe that by turning it into a mobile solution, we can bring efficiency, better outcomes, and increased patient satisfaction,” he said.
The company has caught the eye of some prominent startup competitions this year, including Tech Stars Austin and the annual SXSW Interactive conference. Filament Labs raised $118,000 from the TechStars and was named an alternate fr the SXSW 2014 pitch competition, which identifies startups with high potential. At the recent HIMSS conference in Orlando, Fla., the Patient IO app was selected to present at the conference’s Venture+ forum.
