A new partnership in the mHealth landscape looks to bridge the gap between clinical monitoring devices and health and wellness solutions.
ConnectedHealth, a Singapore-based developer of health monitoring connectivity solutions, has announced a deal with Fitbug, which offers consumer health monitoring devices and services, to plug personal health monitoring data into ConnectedHealth's eHealth platform 3.0. The partnership is designed to bring data from Fitbug weight scales, activity monitors and blood pressure monitors into ConnectedHealth's personal health record platform and give both caregivers and consumers access to more information.
"Bringing together consumer and healthcare provider fitness and healthcare measurements gives real advantages," said Paul Landau, CEO of London-based Fitbug, in a March 19 press release. "Together, ConnectedHealth and Fitbug provide consumers with real-time information on their health and fitness, while reducing healthcare costs and improving patient outcomes."
"Connecting healthcare consumers with healthcare providers is our business," said Mike Holt, ConnectedHealth's CEO, in a recent interview. He said the market is advancing rapidly with companies that promote health and fitness devices for consumers, but few are linking those devices to clinical solutions or providers.
"This is a huge opportunity to take this to the next step," he said. "It's all about getting all that data into the healthcare system."
Holt said ConnectedHealth's platform, which supports proprietary and Continua-based gateway devices and applications, will expand as the relationship between caregivers and health and wellness tools improves. "Just having measurable data to fit into a wellness program is a huge benefit," he said, while providers will welcome the data as they look to monitor at-risk patients outside the hospital or clinic.
"This is a very unique and significant approach," he said.
Holt said he expects to market the platform to payers and large, self-insured companies who have a vested interested in self-managed healthcare. Bringing providers into the conversation, he said, enables them to eye new business opportunities and develop a platform that emphasizes management.
"There's a fundamental change in healthcare (which involves) bringing together the consumer-facing piece with the healthcare provider," he said. "We want to be at the front of that."
