With so many services making the switch from face-to-face contact to online, the idea that the latest technological advances will also make their mark in the field of Telemedicine is a no-brainer. Awareness of the priorities of potential users is key to the acceptance of such platforms, begging the question: What are the main hurdles and drivers of success when implementing this technology?
What is the project’s aim?
The Digital Health Markers project explores digital technologies using a selfie video from a smartphone to measure ‘health markers’ (heart rhythm, variance, blood press., cardiovascular risks, stress, etc.). The technology is relatively new & unique, with the potential to help Partners to enhance their digital health capabilities. It can be applied in Telemedicine, remote patient monitoring, wellness apps (consumer & employer), life insurance, elderly care etc.
How did the project come to be?
In 2020, amidst the breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Eurapco Partners saw the opportunity to enhance their digital health capabilities.
A connection was made with Nuralogix, a HealthTech company from Canada, that has developed a Digital Health Marker solution. Reale Mutua, Caser and Interamerican put together several measurements for analysis to research and validate the medical accuracy of the digital health marker technology.
The Eurapco Lab teamed up with Caser, who leapt at the opportunity to develop and integrate the digital health marker solution in its telemedicine platform as a service.
At the beginning of 2021, the team started with a qualitative research of 20 in-depth interviews with patients and GPs (General Practitioner). This research generated valuable insights, evidence and confidence in digital health marker solutions and allowed the team to understand how customers/patients and medical specialists would respond to a platform that enables a health check to be performed through a 30-second video selfie taken on patients’ smartphones. Further to this research, it was concluded that this service could improve the relationship between patients and doctors, help save time and money, and act as a motivation for customers to improve their health status and scores.
Later that same year, Caser decided to plan and develop a POC that would fully integrate the digital health marker solution in the Caser Health App and Centro Médico Caser.
In the last quarter of 2021, the agreement was signed with Nuralogix and the integration in the Caser Health App was kicked off.
The digital health markers service, Selfie Health, was launched on the 11th of February. An update has already been released with some improvements: measurement history and user profile.
How does It work?
Selfie Health is the perfect telemedicine tool because it allows to the measurement of several patient parameters, which would be impossible to know in a standard video teleconsultation.
Only 30 seconds are enough to know the heart rate, heart rate variability, blood pressure, respiration, stress levels and several health risks (Cardio vascular diseases, Diabetes). And all this is possible with a unique device: your own smartphone.
How do we move forward from here?
Currently, more than 84.000 clients have received the communication of Selfie Health. The Eurapco/Caser team is working on a second survey with clients to validate the communications and insights and to understand how Caser’s clients value this new service.
