University of Maryland Health Partners, a Medicaid managed care organization, and digital health startup emocha Mobile Health have joined forces in an effort to improve medication adherence among patients with type 2 diabetes.
Through the three-month program, diabetic patients will use emocha’s app to submit daily videos of themselves taking their medication. Additionally, participants will be paired with an emocha Adherence Coach, who will assess whether they took their prescriptions properly and encourage them throughout the program.
By the end of the three months, those who achieve an 80 percent adherence rate will receive a $100 gift card.
To be eligible to participate, individuals must be UMHP members between the ages of 18 and 75 who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. They should be prescribed antidiabetic medication and their most recent blood glucose level should be above 9 percent.
“We believe in fostering strong relationships with our members through supportive care management strategies and innovative technology,” UMHP president and CEO Mark Puente said in a statement. “By creating a daily connection with our members, this new program will help to improve healthcare for the most vulnerable.”
Total Health Care, a federally qualified health center with locations in the Baltimore area, is also helping with the adherence program. If patient participants need extra support, they can rely on the providers and clinical support team at Total Health Care for help.
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.
“This is a cutting-edge program that combines the health insurer, provider, pharmacists and technology to provide daily support to patients with diabetes and other chronic conditions,” emocha CEO Sebastian Seiguer noted in a news release.
Seiguer’s Baltimore-based company has developed a way to digitize directly observed therapy (or DOT), the practice of watching patients take every dose. Emocha’s HIPAA-compliant app helps facilitate this, enabling users to record videos of themselves taking their meds. Providers can use the startup’s platform to communicate and check in with patients when they miss a dose. They can also use emocha’s filtering tools to sort patients struggling with adherence or experiencing side effects.
The ultimate aim of the company’s solution, which has been used to assist patients with tuberculosis and hepatitis C, is to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.
Photo: gustavofrazao, Getty Images
