Vol. 11 | Issue 01 | 2020
Dylan Turner Founder Brandon Welch Founder
Most Recommended T H E
HEALTH APPS In 2020
Your Health in Your Hands
S
martphones have emerged as the most versatile electronic devices assisting humans in activities ranging from work, entertainment to communication and purchases. Of late, the health sector has realized the potential that these small gadgets hold and have been launching a slew of mobile applications or health apps that can help assist people in healthier living. Right from monitoring blood pressure to heart rate to temperature and tracing sleep patterns, there are apps that help regulate our daily health activities. These apps are either stand-alone or need an additional device to process the data generated by our body. According to a leading statistics and data portal, the mobile health apps market worldwide is to reach over $11 billion by 2025. Mobile health apps are cost-effective and offer convenience, ease of accessibility, language preferences and can be customized as per user location. These factors and more make them reach a larger population. As the health mobile apps trend catches on, it doesn’t just benefit the users but also the
healthcare workers. In a world that is overly populated and has a skewed patient-doctor ratio, healthcare apps help ease the pressure on doctors and hospitals and help them monitor and connect with patients in a better way. Especially during the current pandemic, when physical meetings with doctors were restricted health apps, along with telehealth and telemedicine solutions helped situations from going bad to worse for non-COVID patients who need regular check-ups and monitoring. In this issue of Insights Care, we bring our readers “The 10 Most Recommended Health Apps In 2020”. These companies are putting in their best to develop solutions that are secure, affordable, well-connected and quick to respond.
SNEHA SINHA
Editor’s Note
Medical Digitization Dynamics of healthcare apps
ARTICLES
22
Doxy.me
34 Health care on the go Mobile Healthcare Applications Treating People Anytime, Anywhere.
Making telemedicine accessible And affordable to all
10 Cover Story
Complete Anatomy Simplifying Anatomy for Learners and Practitioners
28
CXO
18
INTERVIEW
Be Mindful The Clinically Proven Mindfulness Course for Better Mental Wellbeing
Health Info SimpliďŹ ed How can we improve the quality of Health Information Apps?
ZEST HEALTH The Key to All Your Automated Healthcare Needs
24
32
C O N T E N T S
Editor-in-Chief
Sumita Sarkar
Senior Editor
Anish Miller
Managing Editor
Sneha Sinha
Assisting Editors
Abhishaj, Darshan
Visualiser Art & Design Head Co-designer Art & Picture Editor Business Development Manager Marketing Manager
David King Asha Bange Paul Belin Deepanjali Jena Mark Williams Mary D’Souza Sarah Wilson, John Smith
Business Development Executive Sales Executives
Kelli, Bill, Amy
Technical Head Assistant Technical Head Technical Consultants
Jacob Smile Pratiksha Patil David, Robert
Digital Marketing Manager Assistant Digital Marketing Manager SME-SMO Executives
Alina Sege Amol Wadekar Atul, Gemson
Research Analyst Circulation Manager
Eric Smith Tanaji
sales@insightscare.com
November, 2020 Corporate Offices: Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - 302-319-9947 Email: info@insightscare.com For Subscription: www.insightscare.com
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Company Name
Management
Brief
Doxy.me
Brandon Welch Founder & CEO
On a mission to change telemedicine simple, accessible and free.
Zest Health zesthealth.com
Dave Evans CEO
Zest provides simple, effective, human access to members’ benefits with our high-tech, high-touch concierge experience.
Complete Anatomy 3d4medical.com
Niall Johnston Co-Founder
The world's most advanced 3D anatomy platform.
Be Mindful bemindfulonline.com
Richard Latham Founder
The clinically proven online mindfulness course for better mental health.
Expert Self Care expertselfcare.com
Knut Schroeder Founder
A dedicated health information app provider in the UK.
Instant Heart Rate azumio.com
Bojan Bostjancic CEO
AI Driven Mobile Health and Fitness Solutions.
KlinicApp klinicapp.com
Satkam Divya Founder & CEO
Redefined progressive diagnostic services at your doorstep.
Lemonaid lemonaidhealth.com
Paul Johnson CEO
A national telehealth company based in San Francisco, CA.
TotallyPregnant iamtotally.com
Jeff Bonar CEO
A platform for real advice from real people during pregnancy.
WebMD apps webmd.com
Jeff Arnold Founder
It provides credible information, supportive communities, and in-depth reference material about health subjects.
Making Telemedicine Accessible and Affordable to All
Doxy.me Dylan Turner Founder
COVER STORY
Brandon Welch Founder
I
t doesn’t come as a surprise how the healthcare industry is thriving with new alternatives and techniques to offer the best care possible. One of the alternatives that has been around and proved to be feasible since last few months, is Telemedicine. Telemedicine holds the potential to change the world by making it easier and more affordable for healthcare providers to care for their patients anywhere, including rural and underserved areas. Everyone should have access to care through telemedicine, believes a leading-edge healthcare platform, Doxy.me. The company is not only of the belief, but is also changing the perspective of telemedicine being expensive and complicated by making it simple and free. A strong doctor-patient relationship is the foundation for high-quality patient care and reducing health care costs. Doxy.me provides a simple and convenient way for healthcare
providers to meet with their patients remotely, improving the health care experience.
company was honored to be able to provide a much-needed service during a global health emergency.
A Simple, Free and Secure Platform Doxy.me is on a mission to provide telemedicine for all who want/need it. It was started in 2013 to address the need for a simple, free, secure telemedicine platform for prenatal consultations with expecting mothers. Over the years, the platform had steady organic growth until March of this year when its signups started to increase dramatically, coinciding with the rise in COVID-19 cases around the world. There was obviously an urgent need for doctors to meet with their patients, and those patients were, in most cases, asked to remain in their homes. The
Since then, telemedicine has been on top-of-mind for many users, for its convenience and simplicity. The company understands that incorporating telemedicine into routine healthcare will encourage many consumers to stay in closer touch with their providers, and enable those providers to better nurture their patients.
“
We’re on a mission to make telemedicine simple, accessible & free of charge.
”
In general, doxy.me is a free, HIPAAcompliant, secure telemedicine solution that provides a simple, convenient way for healthcare providers to meet with their patients remotely. It was designed to be easy; there is nothing to install and patients don't need to create accounts. It even feels familiar, because the company has incorporated standard clinical workflows such as patient check-in and waiting room into the design.
Making telemedicine accessible means that more patients will reach out to their healthcare providers instead of hesitating due to safety or convenience factors. The Creator Behind the Creation The inceptive mind behind doxy.me is Brandon M. Welch. Brandon, MS, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Informatics at the Medical University of South Carolina and an adjunct at Clemson University. He created doxy.me in 2013 as a student at the University of Utah when he needed a simple and inexpensive telemedicine solution for a clinical research study, and found none available. In addition to doxy.me, Brandon also created three other healthcare IT products, Dokbot.io and ItRunsInMyFamily.com, and Adhere.ly. Brandon attended the University of Utah as an undergraduate, Tulane University School of Medicine for an M.S. in Human Genetics and the University of Utah School of Medicine for his Ph.D. in Biomedical
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We’re changing telemedicine. So you can change the world.”
”
Informatics. He currently lives in Charleston, SC. From Regulatory Issues to Convenient Platform During initial stages, it was difficult for the company to convince early customers that the platform really was as simple to use as it is currently. Customers kept expecting that they would be required to download or maintain an app. Little did they know that through this platform, all they need to start a telemedicine visit is click a web link to the doctor’s doxy.me room using a standard computer. No other hardware or software is required. Secondly, there were also a lot of regulatory issues that the company had to overcome in order to be a secure,
HIPAA-compliant platform. It knew that without these two aspects, it wouldn’t be able to deliver the tool that healthcare professionals needed. From thereon, doxy.me’s relevance has only increased and will continue to increase as both consumers and healthcare providers realize that not only is telemedicine accessible and simple, it’s dramatically more convenient than traveling to an appointment and traveling home. In July, the company hosted more than 11 million telemedicine sessions. That’s more than 11 million medical appointments that took place in a safe and convenient environment. Brandon asserts, “The telemedicine space in general has exploded over the past six months. At the start of the pandemic, many providers turned to tools like Zoom or FaceTime because consumers were familiar with those tools, and there was obviously an urgent need. Many providers, though, had heard of doxy.me through peers, co-workers or industry publications, so
they turned to us with increasing frequency. While there are more and more players in this field every day, we are still the secure, simple choice of many providers. We’re happy to say that we have nearly 750,000 users at this time.” Customer-Centric Approach Doxy.me has always focused on the customer experience. Its efforts in this area are obvious with every login to its platform, and the company always makes that a priority. When there are so many other competitors in a marketplace, businesses have to have a differentiating factor in order to compete and succeed. The company always loves to hear from its users when they say how easy it is to use doxy.me, how comfortable
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By making Doxy.me simple and free, no longer is cost or complexity a barrier to telemedicine.
”
it is, how intuitive it is, and how effortless it is. Even people who have never used telemedicine before are having similar experiences. An excellent customer experience will always be the company’s goal. It wants to make telemedicine so effortless that more patients will use it. “Telemedicine will be the new normal, once COVID-19 is behind us, not only as the tool of choice for emergent situations, but as a front-line tool.
Doctors can see patients, hospitals can ease fears, waiting rooms can be kept clear and in-person visits can be reserved for those who really need medical attention immediately”, mentions Brandon. Doxy.me is striving to be the long-term telemedicine solution of choice. In upcoming days, its leading-edge platform will shape user experience and drive new developments in telehealth that improve the quality of delivered care. In order to make telemedicine available for all, it is putting a lot of effort into publicizing its provider successes. It also provided free licenses to some clinics that do amazing work in their communities.
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Be Mindful
The Clinically Proven Mindfulness Course for Better Mental Wellbeing
I
t is estimated that 1 out of every 4 people in England experience one or more kinds of mental health problems in any given year. And considering the current pandemic, experts have already warned of a rise in cases of anxiety, depression and paranoia. With lock-downs, travel restrictions, and stringent social distancing norms, getting in touch with therapists for old and new patients is not easy. As such, the health industry is now looking up to a digital medium to help the patients. While digital assistance has been in place for some time now, the current situation has given it a push towards recognition and made it essential. With a mission to provide high-quality digital mental health interventions that make a real and lasting impact on lives, Wellmind Health launched Be Mindful, a digital course that benefits participants by delivering all the elements of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). Individuals join the course, either by selfenrolment or via enrolment by their enterprise or healthcare sponsor. In conversation with Insights Care, Richard Latham, the CEO shares more about the app and how it can help us. 18 | November 2020 |
Kindly brief us about the health app and the journey of your company since its inception. Be Mindful has been proven clinically effective by published research studies to significantly reduce and maintain low levels of depression, anxiety, and stress for course completer(s). When we launched Be Mindful back in 2011, the amazing potential of digitally delivered mental health training became quickly apparent. The health outcomes we started to see from the course self-assessments seemed to us as web developers, incredible! At about the same time, we were lucky to be in contact with the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford University, who wanted to find out if MBCT delivered in a digital format was as effective as the talking therapy delivered face-toface. It turned out from their first research study that it was! This was the start of our ongoing stream of research work with academic partners about the effectiveness of Be Mindful. This substantial and growing evidence base has informed every decision we have made about developments of Be Mindful. This evidence-based approach was critical in Be Mindful getting listed in 2018 on the NHS health apps library, having passed rigorous NHS quality
standards for clinical effectiveness, safety, security, usability, and accessibility. A listing on this health apps library is reserved only for tools deemed clinically safe and secure. To this day, we have not made any changes or additions to the core MBCT elements of Be Mindful. Instead, our focus has been on improving user engagement and developing the management platform that is used by enterprise and healthcare providers of the course. How do you stay relevant in this dynamic business environment? There are thousands of mental health apps being launched each year and we can now say that our industry is established with a market for its products. Like most markets, there are good products and bad ones all making bold claims about their benefits. As the market matures, customers are becoming ever more discerning about what they buy, especially for products that are to do with something as personal and sensitive as mental health. In my view, there is no quick fix to improving your mental health and we are staying with a focus on those tried and tested psychological therapies that have been proven to deliver long and lasting benefits. We hope to www.insightscare.com
INTERVIEW WITH INSIGHTS CARE Richard Latham CEO & Co-founder
About the Leader Richard Latham – CEO and Co-founder is an experienced web producer and entrepreneur, launching one of the UK’s rst web design agencies, Bluewave in London in 1995. He co-founded Wellmind Health in Brighton in 2002 with Will Mulder (CTO), with the clear mission to deliver innovative evidencebased digital courses with outstanding health outcomes. As well as directing the growth of the company, Richard acted as the producer and writer for the Be Mindful, Pathway through Pain and Meditainment apps. www.insightscare.com
| November 2020 | 19
differentiate ourselves from our competitors in this way. How exactly does your health app benefit the user, in what ways? The challenge with MBCT is that for it to be effective, it requires someone actually meditating regularly and carrying out mindfulness practices for at least 4 weeks. A digital app is totally relevant for overcoming this challenge, as it enables MBCT to be delivered right into the heart of someone’s daily life. Our Be Mindful app is proven to effectively do this and deliver all the benefits of this powerful psychological intervention. For example, many British universities have carried out clinical trial studies into the efficacy of Be Mindful as a psychological intervention. A published randomized control trial study conducted by the University of Surrey shows that completer(s) of our Be Mindful course enjoy average reductions of 63% in depression and 58% in anxiety. These are dramatic improvements to people's mental health and would be noticeable to friends, family and work colleagues. Kindly tell us about the challenges you faced to withstand the complexities of your industry. With our Be Mindful and Pathway through Pain apps launching in 2011 we were probably the first UK company to operate in what is today called the health apps industry. It was good to feel we were ahead of the forthcoming game, but there was little commercial demand for health apps, so we had to make progress with poor company revenues. We were, however, able to make some sales for patient trials with a couple of pioneering NHS pain services, who were looking at web-based alternatives to face-to-face talking therapies. 20 | November 2020 |
The NHS has been leading the way for many years with the provision of effective psychological support services and we have learnt a lot. As health app competitors started to appear, we realized we were ahead of them in terms of development and research and decided to maintain this advantage by embarking on the very lengthy process of getting clinical trials completed and achieving the necessary healthcare accreditations. Mental Health apps now make up part of what is a highly complex service by
“Our business requires mastering a challenging mix of psychology and technology and our decade of work with our Be Mindful app has shown us the way” healthcare and enterprise providers, concerning data security, safety and duty of care. For this, we have invested heavily in the development of our platform for our apps and the provision of a web-based course management portal, where providers can monitor course participant progress, with full anonymity and confidentiality, and measure effectiveness with health assessment outcomes reports and behavioural analytics. Brief us about the current scenario of the mobile health app space. Healthcare providers are past the stage of curiosity about the effectiveness of mental health apps and now see them as part of the healthcare mix of solutions. With this, they are looking to
make use of the apps that are most effective and economical, but also are meeting high standards for accessibility, safety and data security. It would take at least 2 years to achieve these healthcare standards from launching an app, even if a new entrant to the mental health app space has deep pockets and invests heavily in this process. Keeping in mind the need for active healthcare today, how is your company ensuring public awareness for it? Not very well really – marketing and promotion have always been the weakest aspect of the company. We have been too product-focused over the years and it’s hurt us commercially. Coverage like this by Insights Care is very helpful. We have now received our first investment and are in a growth stage at present, expanding our team and opening a new Boston office in the US. We are increasing our marketing and publicity activities and aim to increase our presence and be reaching a lot more people in need in the very near future. To date, we have relied on word of mouth and our healthcare accreditations to get our apps noticed by corporates and healthcare providers. Also, a focus on making sure that potential customers searching for relevant health apps can find us on search engines. We are also ensuring that we have a pipeline of clinical studies being conducted and published to raise awareness of Be Mindful. How do you envisage your company’s growth along with the development of your user base? Our user base growth will be mainly by selling our apps B2B rather than a focus on promoting our apps directly to individuals. www.insightscare.com
T
he onset of Coronavirus has set new records when it comes to digitization. Digital health has forever been introducing advanced approaches to the management of health conditions. Newer and finer research has been able to demonstrate significant growth in the impact that digital health is having on patients and healthcare overall. Most importantly the adoption of digital health tools, such as mobile health apps, holds great promise with evidence of these tools playing a positive role in both patient outcomes and the costs of care. Online/Digital health often refers to the adjacent use of connected mobile devices, such as mobile phones and tablets, to improve health. According to the research conducted and published in the new report from the IQVIA Institute, The Growing Value of Digital Health, there has been increasing evidence of the value of these digital health tools. Both, patients and doctors have been getting the benefits of medical apps. There have been demands for different requirements, but both the parties have been using mobile apps in different ways. When it comes to a person who is cautious about their health conditions, healthcare apps can provide a dedicated dashboard for daily reports and progress in health. And alternatively, when it comes to doctor, healthcare apps could be quite a tool in maintaining patient records and appointments, and even schedule meetings with medical representatives. Health care apps have a few major benefits: 1. Healthcare Apps act as a boon for doctors and medical staff For the first time ever, the healthcare apps have become a boon for the doctors, nurses and various other medical staff associated with the hospital. Numerous of these apps help to update the doctors about the health condition of their patients. As a matter of fact, according to a statistic, 93% of the doctors believe that healthcare apps can bring improvement in patient’s health and 80% of the physicians are using the mobile technology to deliver the patient care.
appointment with doctors and buy medicines online without having to travel to the hospital. 3. The Benefits Patients Receive from the Healthcare Apps are tremendous There are numerous benefits that patients have been receiving due to the healthcare apps whether it is scheduling a quick appointment with the doctor, finding an appropriate specialist having proper experience and viewing the medical test reports from labs online, purchase medicines and other products at affordable prices and so on. As a matter of fact, they could also have a video chat with the doctor and discuss their health issues face to face after paying a reasonable fee. Most of the frequent users can maintain a healthy diet by consulting the dietitian and nutritionist online. Amongst one other of the core aims of healthcare sector is keeping the patient’s health and their information safely. Having to use apps without proper standards can lead to unsafe practices. Providers of healthcare should implement a strategy that will help keep the quality of service high while keeping the patients safe. The main and only goal of health apps has been to make the experience of healthcare more efficient and satisfying for all stakeholders involved. Health apps have been ultimately judged by their value to the healthcare system; their ability to improve the patient experience and patient outcomes as well as reduce the costs of care. Numerous times physicians have seen the value of health apps in terms of patient engagement, promoting more efficient provider-patient communication, and creating new modalities for diagnosis and monitoring. The quality of health apps has been gradually improving, with more functionality and better user experience. It is imperative to note that app stores have begun removing low-quality apps, including outdated and abandoned apps, as well as those that no longer meet current guidelines or do not function as intended.
2. Health Care Apps have been a Blessing in Far Remote Areas In today’s era of internet and with smartphones being able to reach every nook and corner, people living in rural and far-flung areas can also expect to get best health services. All of these on-demand apps help them to book
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Medical Digitization
DYNAMICS of
care apps Health
www.insightscare.com
| November 2020 | 23
Health Info SimpliďŹ ed
Knut Schroeder Chief Executive
24 | November 2020 |
www.insightscare.com
How can we improve the quality of
Health
Information Apps? About the author Knut Schroeder is an award-winning Health Information App Producer, Founder of Expert Self Care Ltd and General Practitioner in Bristol, UK. He is Chief Executive of the UK Self Care Forum and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in Primary Health Care. He also serves as an Advisor for the Patient Information Forum. He and his team have created six health information apps, two of which are listed on the NHS Apps Library. He and his team won the 2019 British Medical Association 'Patient Information Award' for wellbeing for the distrACT app which supports people who self-harm and may feel suicidal. To contact him, email knut.schroeder@expertselfcare.com. To find out more about his work, visit https://www.expertselfcare.com/.
www.insightscare.com
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he internet has democratised health information. Informational websites, blogs and scientific papers are now only a few clicks away. At the same time, online misinformation is rife. Googling symptoms can be more confusing than it is reassuring. Moreover, myths and false beliefs picked up online keep spreading by word of mouth – as in the current COVID-19 pandemic. People need easy access to health information they can trust, so that they can make informed decisions about their health. This includes having appropriate knowledge of common and important health conditions, knowing when it's safe to self-care and when to seek help, and where to get support when medical help is needed. The evidence and the case for providing quality health information is compelling in terms of better health outcomes and reduced health service costs.i With health information being such a powerful 'intervention', healthcare providers, third sector organisations and corporates operating in the healthcare arena create and publish their own health advice. To increase their reach, an increasing number of them now make use of existing mobile technology and create mobile apps as an adjunct to more traditional means such as printed materials and web content. The aim remains the same: to educate people about health, provide support and signpost services. Why apps? Because mobile health information apps can provide substantial benefits. Optimised for mobile phones, they can provide easy and fast access points for relevant and targeted information. They can enable people to access tailored information discreetly - anywhere and anytime, even when offline, at the touch of a screen. With a multitude of possible features and functionalities, well-designed health information
| November 2020 | 25
apps can provide an outstanding user experience, especially when they’re easy to use. Mobile apps can also help to reach groups that have previously not engaged much with health information and increase people’s awareness of provider organisations. Finally, health information apps may enable local customisation, which can be useful for signposting local services. This can make it easy for people to find details about locally available support, all in one easily accessible place on their mobile phone. A good example of an engaging health information app is the Red Cross ‘First Aid app’.ii This app provides quality information about giving first aid and enables users to learn and practice simple first aid. Up to a degree, users can learn and rehearse potentially life-saving skills at a time and place that suits them. They can watch instructional videos, take part in interactive quizzes and follow step-by-step guides – all within the comfort of their mobile phones. Mobile health information apps are breaking the mould and have considerable potential to improve patient pathways and the delivery of care. But they have to be well-designed and engaging. In other words, they need to be user friendly and of high quality. Unfortunately, many are not. So how can health information providers and app developers ensure that health information apps are of the best possible quality and address users' needs? Here are three key actions for success: 1. Involve users: Involving users at all stages of app development is crucial – from planning to marketing and promotion. This means creating content and functionality in partnership, rather than simply asking for feedback as a token gesture. Users need to be- and feel – part of the team. Their input can be invaluable. Working in partnership with users prevents developers making (the wrong) assumptions about what people really need and want. This in turn leads to better information products. As a result, apps developed with user input will be easier to use and provide a better experience than those without. 2. Use a consistent process: Well-developed, consistent and transparent editorial processes help to ensure that health information is clear, relevant and based on robust scientific research (where this is available). Developers are advised to
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publish their editorial policy online for everyone to see. Their policies should include clear strategies for continuous improvement of the product and for managing feedback. The team behind the app must be suitably trained and qualified. This ensures that information is reliable, safe and medically accurate. A good team will also make the language used on the app clear, easy-to-understand and culturally sensitive, so that users are more likely to engage. The app must be easy to navigate – for example, through unambiguous ‘home’ and ‘back’ buttons and a user-friendly design. A 'search' option can also be very useful. 3. External valuation: Ideally, information producers and health app developers should get their procedures reviewed and certified to help improve standards and add credibility to their projects. The UK Patient Information Forum (PIF, https://pifonline.org.uk/) provides resources and training opportunities for health information producers. PIF also assesses organisations that create health information and awards their new ‘PIF tick’ to providers that fulfil their stringent criteria. The Organisation for the review of Care and Health Applications (ORCHA) evaluates health apps with a focus on data privacy, clinical assurance and user experience. Apps passing their benchmark score are listed on their ‘app finder’ platform (https://appfinder.orcha.co.uk/search/). Finally, the NHS assesses health apps and lists those that pass their criteria on the NHS Apps Library (https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/), where people can find apps and online tools to help them manage their health and wellbeing. There is little doubt that mobile health information apps have great potential for reducing digital health inequalities. They can help organisations to improve the care for those who need quality information most, but who perhaps, so far, were least likely to be able to access it. Only when we understand how important quality is for health information apps to be effective, can we appreciate the need for mobile health tools that provide a great user experience and are reliable. It can’t be emphasised enough: users need to be integrated in the entire app production process, right from the start. Co-creation is no longer an optional add-on or token buzzword, but an essential ingredient of successful app development. Every health information app should embrace it.
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Interview with Insights Care 28 | November 2020 |
Elizabeth Munn Managing Director
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Complete Anatomy Simplifying Anatomy for Learners and Practitioners
About the Leader Elizabeth Munn, Managing Director of International Education at Elsevier, has been in various roles within healthcare information and analytics for over 20 years but her real passion lies in helping to improve outcomes in health education. She was a keen advocate of the acquisition of 3D4Medical in 2019, as she could see the power of its flagship app in providing a rich learning experience in one of the most complex subjects within medicine. She also knew that Complete Anatomy was a superb complement to Elsevier’s worldfamous brands in Anatomy like Gray’s, Netter, and Sobotta.
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M
edicine is considered as one of the toughest streams of study and rightly so because, able medical practitioners are trusted with human lives. For effective study and to gain knowledge, medical practitioners today don’t just rely on faculty and coursebooks but also explore the digital options. The digital medium has the power to simplify complex topics, like Anatomy, using the audio and video mechanisms for an explanation.
However, the path for the digital medium to gain acceptance has not been easy. Professors and medical faculty are often reluctant to change what had been working for centuries, to embrace new technology. As such, a small Irish company 3D4 Medical, which is committed to helping students become great doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals, took a different approach. In its mission to support faculty as they strive to make a difference for their students, 3D4Medical’s strategy was a bottom-up approach. The students were becoming very familiar with the digital alternatives and were quick to identify the most useful product by the company, ‘Complete Anatomy’. It was often either through the student body putting pressure on faculty or the professors recognizing that the majority of students were using the platform already, which lead to its first institutional deals.
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Today, Complete Anatomy, an education platform, is used to educate both medical students and patients, and this space is growing rapidly especially given the COVID19 situation. Though it started as a support to the studies, the current situation has made it necessary that students and faculties have access to an app like this that can benefit both. Many institutions not only have to address the immediate need for distance learning but also to have a Plan B for any future emergencies.
roles at the company. Our users also make up a large part of our development and design process with our latest update having been realized because of direct student feedback. Having a fully comprehensive understanding of its customers has played a big role in remaining relevant. How exactly does Complete Anatomy benefit the user, in what way? There are two primary use cases:
Elizabeth Munn, Managing Director of International Education at Elsevier, which acquired 3D4Medical in 2019, shares more details about the app and its future. Kindly brief us about your health app and its story so far. 3D4Medical initially began creating and selling images derived from 3D anatomical models to everyone from medical publishers to advertising. With a growing need in medical education to provide students with access to anatomy learning outside of the lab, we saw a new opportunity to apply our technology and expertise. We decided to produce the first educational app for medical students, “Complete Anatomy.” This initiative caught the attention of various tech giants, and 3D4Medical was invited to appear on stage at events hosted by high-profile, global companies, which helped increase our overall level of exposure and awareness. In late 2019, 3D4Medical was acquired by Elsevier, a global information analytics business specializing in science and health that is also part of RELX. 3D4Medical continues to develop and promote this revolutionary platform. How do you stay relevant in this dynamic business environment? Innovation has always been the cornerstone of 3D4Medical and what makes it one of the largest and most successful medical app companies in the world. 3D4Medical ensured its staff represented its end users and that they brought fresh thinking to the table by employing recent medical graduates in a variety of
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Medical Education – With Complete Anatomy, you can isolate any structure or view it in situ, or follow the path of a structure through the body. As many studies have proven, it has dramatically reduced student comprehension times while at the same time increasing their retention times. Patient Education – Whereas before a healthcare provider might draw on a piece of paper or point at a chart on the wall, they can now engage their patients with rich graphics. Keeping in mind the need for active healthcare today, how is your company ensuring public awareness for it? It will become more and more important for everyone to become health literate as our health care systems move from a paternalistic “doctor knows best” approach to one where the patient will have a much greater degree of ownership of their healthcare pathways. Complete Anatomy’s current use in patient education is a growth area that we will continue to explore. How do you envisage your company’s growth along with the development of your user base? With the recent acquisition by Elsevier, we have brought together a world-class 3D technology platform and a global leader in anatomy education and content, which allows 3D4Medical many opportunities to grow the Complete Anatomy platform both within the Elsevier stable of offerings and as a stand-alone product.
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ZEST HEALTH The Key to All Your Automated Healthcare Needs
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s per a 2019 report in The Telegraph, Google received almost 70,000 questions in a minute related to health. That means more than 7% questions in a day or roughly more than a billion questions a day are related to health problems that people face. Right from a stuffy nose, hiccups, trending diet plans, how to check blood pressure, to symptoms of cancer, people wanted to know it all from the search engine. While the reasons for asking these on a search engine and not a registered medical practitioner range from taking another opinion, to not having time to visit a clinic, the fact is, one cannot rely on search engines all the time. Most of the information online is not complete and relying on them can adversely affect our health. Worse still, at times the information is totally false, but presented in a way that makes it difficult for people to see through. However, the issue remains as to who to turn to when in doubt. Our bet at insights care would be on someone who is well-informed, an organization that is managed by professionals, understands the medical emergencies and is always ready to guide. Someone like Zest Health. A Kansas-based technology company, Zest works in the health and benefits space. It is a benefits advocate for members, giving them clarity on their benefits, and guiding them to using their benefits most effectively. Combining high-touch, human advocacy support with datadriven technology, this app gives members a single solution to help navigate the complex and costly healthcare system. Zest empowers members to engage with their healthcare on their own terms. Zest saves employers money, increases
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employee engagement, and alleviates HR work by simplifying how consumers navigate and access their healthcare. In the recent pandemic, Zest is helping people overcome the fear and hype created around COVID-19 and guiding them with proper and validated information. It is helping the Zest members stay informed with the latest development, the symptoms, the do’s and don’ts and how and who to approach in case one is infected. Products and Services Navigating healthcare is not easy. Zest envisions on changing that for companies and their employees. Understanding benefit coverage, cost, and deductibles is no small feat, and finding in-network doctors and specialists can be another headache – especially when one already has a headache. Zest provides simple, effective, human access to members’ benefits with its high-tech, high-touch concierge experience. Members get the information they need, on their terms, to make the best decisions for their health. Zest saves employers money, increases employee engagement, and alleviates HR work by simplifying how consumers navigate and access their healthcare. It provides members with 24/7 access to a certified healthcare professional, immediate response to member’s’ queries and guidance to appropriate care using triage protocols. Integrating intuitive digital and mobile solutions, smart data, and its 24/7 tech-enabled concierge team, Zest is always available, at any moment, when the members need
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The 10 Most Recommended Health Apps In 2020
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Equip your clients and employees with an easy solution to take control of their health and benefits.
guidance. The team at Zest Health believes that this generation lives in a digital, mobile-optimized world where information, goods, and services are available on demand. That instant access is key – especially when one needs their healthcare information. The team provides members clarity on their health plan so they can use their benefits and address personal needs to maximum extent. Future Prospects Zest has come a long way and has proven itself as a valuable asset in the delivery and support of employee benefit plans. The company is focused on continually creating personalized services powered by AI, automation, and human support, giving members a new way to understand and engage with their health benefits. It is a system set up to save time, money, and hassle. Zest believes, “Your healthcare plan should work for you, not the other way around.”
The DRIVING FORCE Dave Evans is the Chief Executive Officer at Zest Health. He has a demonstrated history of working in the hospital and health care industry and is also skilled in on various platforms such as, Business Analytics, Operations Management, Physical Inventory, Customer Service, and Sales.
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Dave Evans Chief Executive Officer
Client REVIEWS Zest Health shared one of its client’s story, as follows: “After getting home from work, a Zest member began experiencing stomach issues. Struggling with her stomach, she considered going to the emergency room, but wasn’t sure if it was necessary. Worried the symptoms would persist, she felt anxious about missing work the next day. She was conflicted and in pain, unsure what to do. The member called the Zest concierge. The Zest nurse listened carefully to her symptoms, performing a thorough assessment, determining the member was best suited to visit an urgent care clinic for evaluation. The nurse directed the member to an open nearby clinic with diagnostic services. The member felt reassured by the nurse’s evaluation, and was comfortable seeking care at the clinic, as it would only be a $50 copay. At urgent care, the member was diagnosed with gallstones. The urgent care physician ordered an outpatient CT scan and referred her to a GI specialist for treatment options. Had the member visited the ER, her treatment would have been less in line with her needs, and costlier for her and for the Zest client.”
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Mobile Healthcare
Applications
Treating People Anytime, Anywhere.
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Healthcare on the go ealthcare is of prime importance to any and every individual. With pandemic times like these, monitoring the health has become necessary. Even though people take care of themselves with a set routine that they follow, they need to be reminded of it every now and then. This need of continuous healthcare has led to the invention of mobile healthcare applications.
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hospital. The wearables and mobile apps that serve the purpose of wearables are usually helpful in such situations. They keep a check on the patient vitals, blood pressure, heart rate, sleep quantity and quality, etc. Doctors can keep track of the patients’ health and give immediate help in case of emergency or whenever needed. It is easy for the patient and the doctor to communicate through chats in these apps.
Every individual from 10 years of age has their own smart phone or any other smart device. This is the only thing that is always around and with people. It is easy with mobile healthcare apps to take care of one’s health. There are applications that are free or paid depending on the requirement of the individual. Mobile healthcare makes it very convenient for people to get access to a doctor, whether it is an emergency or not. People do not have to wait in long lines or take prior appointments for getting themselves checked.
Easy Access in Emergency Situations
Illness is never an expected thing. So to be prepared to face the worst is all a man can do. Even people who do not have any health conditions can use these apps to monitor their health and prevent any unexpected health hazards. There are several advantages of these mobile healthcare applications and are discussed below. Convenience and Control With smartphones and mobile apps, monitoring health progress has become convenient and efficient. The patients do not need to go to doctors to understand and maintain their health. There are thousands of apps to choose from.
In most countries, emergency services are lagging the ability to immediately locate the victim. Considering the fact that every individual has a smart device with them these days, it is bad that victims cannot be located on time. There are mobile phone towers and GPS technology, which can help locate the victims at the earliest. These mobile health apps allow easy access to the location of the injured. The emergency apps also provide widgets that can be placed on the home screen of the phones. Clicking on the widget, the victim can call an emergency service or their family member also. Reduced Healthcare Costs When the patients are properly educated of their health conditions and are in continuous communication with their doctor, they tend to take good care of themselves. There are also patients who cannot afford expensive OPD for small health issues. Such people can use the medical health apps. Studies even show that these apps reduce the cost of overall healthcare.
Fewer Visits to Clinics A combined advantage to the medical practitioners as well as the patients is that the visits to the clinics are reduced. It helps the patients who cannot leave their homes to visit the doctors and also the hospitals can get rid of the crowded lines. There are numerous types of apps that people can use for different conditions. There are medical reference apps that provide information on health conditions and help prevent diseases. There are telemedicine apps that provide remote health options. This type of app is in the booming stage. 24/7 Patient Monitoring Keeping patients under observation continuously is a challenge, especially for those who do not stay at the
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