The Journal of mHealth Vol 2 Issue 4 (August) | Page 15

Industry News
est nearby, divided into categories, find
information on them and set a navigation to a specific point-of-interest. This
also includes information on specific
accessibility facilities around them, such
as tactile pavement and crossings, traffic lights with sound (provided that this
information is available on OpenStreetMaps for the area which the user is in).
Extended Map Coverage: The app coverage has been extended to the whole world,
although coverage is less in rural areas.

ViaOpta Daily:
New Object Recogniser Feature: Identifies objects in the user’s field of vision
when user points the camera of the
device at an object.
Addition of Scene Recogniser Feature:
The user will be able to point the camera of the device at a desired direction or
place and the voiceover will tell the user
what is in front of them to help them
navigate unfamiliar environments.

Continuing a commitment to
digital excellence
The smartphone versions of these
patient apps won the prestigious European Excellence Award in 2014, the first
year they were available. Downloaded
over 6,700 times during the first two
months after launch, these apps allow
users to retain and in some case regain
their independence and have been
praised both for innovation and for reallife impact. n

Vida Health and AstraZeneca
Launch New App for Post-heart
Attack Recovery
Vida Health and AstraZeneca have teamed up to launch a new
app for recovering heart attack patients that should help people
recover faster from, and better cope with, the trauma associated
with such life-threatening experiences.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and
women in the U.S. Every year, about 735,000 Americans have
a heart attack, and more than a quarter of those patients suffer
from repeat attacks, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Heart disease is caused by several hereditary and lifestyle
factors, and recovery from the first attack requires ongoing support to help prevent a second one. That’s where Vida Health
and AstraZeneca’s Day-By-Day app comes into play.
The app, which is launching through a trial program at Duke
University, is a HIPAA-compliant smartphone application that
will walk patients step-by-step through the recovery process
using live digital coaches and educational materials, like videos,
articles, and food journals, to help patients implement lifestyle
changes and adhere to their new drug regimen. It’s an extension
of Vida Health’s current cloud-based smartphone app, which
provides personal health coaching services on both Android
and iOS devices for a range of chronic conditions.
“We’ve already seen that we’ve improved outcomes and lowered
costs for other needs: Seven out of eight people lose weight using
Vida Health,” said Stephanie Tilenius, CEO of Vida Health, who
will speak Tuesday at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech roundtable on
the state of digital health. “We see ourselves as a platform that
cuts across multiple channels to engage chronic care patients, and
our partnership with AstraZeneca is an extension of that model.”
After a heart attack, patients are often given a list of changes they
need to make in order to prevent a second attack. (People who
have had an attack are at a much higher risk for another one.)
At the same time, these people are also experiencing a range of

challenging emotions, from anxiety to depression to information overload. It’s a per iod where hands-on rehabilitation can
make a significant difference, helping patients understand what
medications to take when, how to change their eating habits or
quit smoking, and how to slowly develop an exercise routine.
Sticking to a new medication regimen is a core concern for heart
attack patients. Poor adherence to drug regimens generally causes
about 33% to 69% of medication-related hospitalisations and
accounts for $100 billion in annual health care costs, according to
a 2005 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The app will also help AstraZeneca interact with patients
“beyond the pill.” The app is unbranded, meaning users won’t
see the pharmaceutical company’s name anywhere on the service, and it has been designed to focus on the patient, regardless
of exactly what company’s drugs they have been prescribed.
“The science is the core of our business, but patients today are
expecting more,” said John McCarthy, vice president of global
commercial excellence at AstraZeneca. “We see that taking advantage of technology alongside the power of science is the best
thing for patients. It’s about extending the customer experience.”
AstraZeneca will be covering the cost for all users participating in the program. The effort will give the pharmaceutical
company a better idea of how they can engage with consumers
beyond their daily dosages, as well as give the firm insight into
how patients are using daily medications during recovery.
“We are focusing on patient problems while working within the
pharmaceutical business that we fit within,” he said. “It allows
us to have a greater impact across an institution that’s looking to
address all of their patient population.”
Source: Fortune n

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