One year after the launch of its Virtual Care Clinic, the Center for Body Computing at the University of Southern California has launched a digital health initiative as part of the Global Body Computing conference in Los Angeles this week. The program will use smartphones to connect those with little access to healthcare to physicians at the Keck School of Medicine to better manage their health.
From the perspective of Scott Dorman, managing director for the USC Center for Body Computing, the underserved community uses a disproportionately large portion of traditional healthcare services because they have the least access to preventive care. Using digital health tools to connect them with physician experts could reduce this cost burden, he explained in emailed responses to questions.
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“Smartphones and data plans will be deployed to those who are determined to be ‘in need,'” Dorman said. “They will be provided with smartphones provisioned with access to the Virtual Care Clinic, and possibly sensors and other technology functionality supplied through our foundational partners. The DHAI will be the conduit for distributing smartphones/data plans.”
The VCC app enables access to virtual doctors, mainly with the goal of improving health literacy. USC doctors from specialties such as cardiology, urology, and ophthalmology will offer medical advice to users based on specific information users enter so patients understand how to manage their health, including chronic conditions. Dorman said the app also includes Virtual Care Clinic partners.
“One of our founding partners with the VCC, Dr. Evidence, compiles big data from vetted sources such as clinical trials, white papers and provides content specifically to address [those] patient health challenges. One of our other foundational partners, Proteus manufactures a product which addresses medication adherence.”
But how do you overcome the challenge of how to select the best candidates to participate in this initiative? That’s a question Dorman and his team are still wrestling with. He acknowledged that they are still reviewing how to deploy the smartphones for the pilot study, which will last at least 90 days. Economic need and available resources will certainly play a role in deciding who gets one.
On the flip side, Dorman said he and others at USC want to use the program to learn how participants interact with the VCC app. Measures of success depend on the how the app changes participants’ lifestyle and attitude toward their own health.
“We’ll be studying everything from how much time someone spends accessing the VCC, which apps they interact with, how much time they spend on each app, and other metrics,” Dorman said. “The data we gather will be used to guide the wider launch of the initiative.”
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