VUCA Health developed a series of videos to give people a better understanding of their prescription drugs, why they need to take them for their condition, what they can do and what to expect from taking them. It was one of four companies facing off in the finals of the Venture+ Forum at HIMSS this afternoon.
Flow Health, Sansoro Health, and Bright.MD were also shortlisted.
VUCA Health works with payers, pharmacies, providers and healthcare content producers, such as Elsevier. Its MedsOnCue service has a video library that is triggered when users click on a link in an email or text message, or when they scan a QR code printed on prescription labels and patient information sheets. The idea is to provide a hub of direct content with a focus on specialty pharmaceuticals. Its approach reminded me of another company in the prescription drug health literacy space — Telesofia Medical — which works with big pharma companies as well as health systems.
Sansoro Health Founder and Chief Technology Officer John Orosco worked as a software developer for Cerner for several years. Its chief medical officer Dr. David Levin was the CMIO at Cleveland Clinic. The company wants to confront the interoperability challenge through an application programming interface, or API, to help hospitals with disparate electronic health record systems integrate data, referred to as Emissary. It integrates ambulatory EMRs to create integrated networks without having to extend the core platform, according to its website and helps health systems to create their own applications or collaborate with third party vendors to provide applications like patient or physician portals.
Bright.MD developed a SmartExam platform that functions like a physician assistant for the highest volume conditions coming through primary care practices. Its platform walks users through questions and uses machine learning as it processes their information to reach a diagnosis and recommended treatment. It is designed to be an automated care delivery tool and has physician and patient interfaces.
Flow Health developed an operating system that functions like a health social network around patients in which payers, providers and caregivers are connected around a patient’s health record. Its focus is chronic care management for Medicare beneficiaries. A patient facing app gives users access to their healthcare data. It uses artificial intelligence to automatically order tests for patients, or not order them, and prescribe medications.
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.
Update Sansoro Health emerged victorious.
Photo: Flickr user Joe Thorn
