MHealth is Not Just Cool, It Can Also Save Money

Plenty of cyberspace has been devoted to the promise of mHealth.

Now, one company with a mobile health solution to manage diabetes is promising large financial savings if these tools are leveraged properly.

Telcare announced last week that a study published in U.S. Endocrinology found that when Telcare’s cellular enabled blood glucose meter is paired with analytics and patient support services for people with diabetes, it resulted in $3,300 per person annual reduction in employee healthcare costs.

Diabetes is an expensive disease to manage, so this should come as welcome news to employers trying to manage ever-increasing healthcare costs.

Led by the CEO of Telcare - Professor Jonathan C. Javitt, a physician, health technologist and health economist - the study combined Telcare’s hardware technology with ActiveCare Inc.’s proprietary data analytics, real-time biometrics analysis and 24/7 monitoring and care services.

The study, entitled Deployment of an mHealth Patient Monitoring Solution for Diabetes also involved medical coaches to help patients/employees manage their condition.

The savings that resulted were attributed to reduced hospitalization and emergency room visits among employees with diabetes who participated in the monitoring program, compared with employees with diabetes who didn’t.

On average, diabetes patients can be a heavy burden on employers leading them to bear $6,000 more in healthcare costs than non-diabetic employees, according to a Telcare news release.

“This is terrific — a 21st century intervention for the same price as the old-fashioned technology it replaces, creating a can’t-lose ROI,” said Al Lewis, a member of ActiveCare’s Advisory Board, in a statement. “The mHealth strategy deployed here is likely to be the future model for managing chronic illness.”

-- By Arundhati Parmar, Senior Editor, MD+DI
[email protected]