Company
Employs Cellphones
To Improve Patient/Physician Interaction
San Francisco—June 20, 2006—BeWell
Mobile Technology, which provides patient
engagement software for the healthcare industry, has won the
prestigious ABBY, awarded annually to organizations that demonstrate
dramatic improvements in the way healthcare is delivered.
BeWell (www.bewellmobile.com)
was cited by the Adaptive Business Leaders Organization (ABL) for
its innovative use of cellphone technology to manage chronic diseases
and to provide patient outreach communication and medical research
support.
“More than simply transmitting data between
provider and patient,” said Dr. Peter Boland, BeWell business
development director, “we have created innovative software
that takes advantage of the increasing availability and usage of
cellphones as the core communications device across nearly all population
demographics.
"The ABBY validates that our patient engagement
software gets patients more involved in managing their care. Putting
these applications on common cellphones that most patients are already
using is the key," he said.
In a pilot study with the San Mateo (CA) Medical
Center, BeWell is demonstrating how asthma-suffering teenagers can
control their chronic care conditions through cellphone technology
and avoid emergency room (ER) visits. To date, patients and their
families have been successful in utilizing cellphones for monitoring
and reporting their symptoms and taking medication in compliance
with prescribed action plans. There have been no reported ER visits
since the program’s inception, a dramatic departure from the
norm of 25 hospitalizations per 10,000 children aged 0-14 for asthma-related
illness.
San Francisco-based BeWell is also supporting a
five-year physical activity measurement study conducted by Barbara
Sternfeld, PhD, senior scientist at Kaiser Permanente's Division
of Research. The study is funded by the National Cancer Institute,
a component of the National Institutes of Health.
BeWell Mobile, founded in 2004, provides a technology
platform that combines flexibility, anytime-anywhere availability
and cost-effectiveness to patients and for those who treat them.
Employing cellphones, BeWell collects relevant, real-time data from
patients, allowing healthcare providers to track individual patient’s
progress and determine if personal intervention is required. Patients
also have access to information that helps them stay in touch with
their goals and knowledgeable about their regimen.
The ABL, founded in 1983, conducts confidential,
monthly Round Tables for healthcare services, life science and technology
company CEOs. BeWell was nominated for the ABBY by GlaxoSmithKline
(NYSE: GSK).
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CONTACT:
Dr. Peter Boland
peter@bewellmobile.com
510-868-9252
Dave Hook
dhook@co.sanmateo.ca.us
650-573-3983
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