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Mass General launches study on Jana Care’s heart failure management app

Massachusetts General Hospital is working with Jana Care to conduct a study on the company's heart failure management mobile app, called Heart Habits.

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Massachusetts General Hospital is teaming up with Boston-based Jana Care to conduct a study on the company’s heart failure management mobile app.

Jana Care developed the app, called Heart Habits, to give patients a simpler way to monitor their symptoms and learn to manage their lifestyle.

When using the app, congestive heart failure patients are prompted to take a survey biweekly or in the event of substantial weight gain. The survey gauges the severity of their symptoms, and depending on the results, they are encouraged to call their providers or 911.

As part of the study, researchers can see patients’ survey results. In turn, patients can contact the researchers through the app.

Additionally, Heart Habits lets patients learn about their condition and track their weight, fluid and sodium intake.

Via email, Jana Care Chief Scientific Officer AJ Kumar said what differentiates Heart Habits from competing apps is how involved clinicians and patients are in the development process.

Cardiologists worked with Jana Care for a year to create the educational and clinical content, and developers interviewed patients and caregivers to gain insight into the effectiveness of the app.

As far as the study is concerned, Jana Care and Mass General joined forces for a reason.

“Jana Care’s founders came out of MIT and Harvard and since the beginning, we’ve been supported and advised by leaders at Partners Health and MGH,” Kumar said. “When we began working in the heart failure space, we connected with cardiologists at MGH and they were excited to work with us.”

Twenty-four study participants are currently being recruited, and they will be enrolled for six weeks.

The study is expected to wrap up by the end of this year. At that time, researchers will compare Heart Habits users’ knowledge of heart failure and self-reported quality of life to that of non-Heart Habits users.

In addition to developing the heart failure management app, Jana Care has made multiple diabetes mobile apps, as well as a smartphone-connected blood monitoring device.

After the study with Mass General concludes, Kumar said his company will eventually make a version of Heart Habits available to the public.

“We will work closely with the study team at MGH to ensure we incorporate any further lessons from the study into the app and prepare a version for general release,” he noted. “In parallel, we are in discussions with institutions which are interested in adapting our program into their care management practices.”

Photo: BrianAJackson, Getty Images

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