Patient scenario
When 66-year-old Peter was diagnosed with diabetes, he was justifiably worried. Diabetes runs in his family, and he had watched his mother, uncle, and two of his cousins suffer from serious complications while they struggled to manage the disease. Peter feared that his health would similarly deteriorate and he expressed his concerns to his doctor.
His physician enrolled him in iHealth Labs’ Unified Care program. Launched in 2018, Unified Care is a comprehensive “total care” program that provides access to iHealth Labs’ smart medical devices for remote patient monitoring and chronic care management of conditions like diabetes and hypertension.
These devices, which are provided at no charge to medical clinics and patients, record and remotely transmit critical patient data to a certified healthcare team for monitoring. The Unified Care team analyzes incoming data and communicates alerts to the patient’s primary care provider as needed.
Wrap-around patient care
When a new patient is enrolled, members of the care team schedule an introductory meeting at the clinic to provide education about proper nutrition and the importance of lifestyle changes. This team also addresses and resolves any questions or concerns that patients might have between office visits.
The Unified Care team functions as an extension of the primary care team, providing critical education and guidance to optimize a patient’s ability to manage their chronic health conditions. By combining cutting-edge technology with expert personnel and ongoing support, this full-service program bridges the gap between clinic and home to deliver an outstanding level of care that can significantly improve outcomes for patients like Peter.
Making quality health management accessible
iHealth Labs — widely recognized for its orange-box COVID-19 tests — is a leading provider of cloud-connected medical devices, personal healthcare devices, and home-based test kits. Since launching one of the first Bluetooth-connected blood pressure monitors for iOS devices in 2010, iHealth Labs has emerged as a leader in digital health solutions, with a goal of revolutionizing the healthcare industry by making quality health management accessible and affordable for all.
The traditional healthcare system, where patients seek medical attention only when they’re unwell, excels at delivering acute care during office visits. However, many patients who are asked to perform daily tasks to better monitor and manage their conditions between visits — which is an essential part of chronic condition management — can easily become overwhelmed and frustrated.
For example, a doctor may ask diabetic patients to track how food intake affects their blood sugar levels and adjust their insulin injections based on the results. But patients can become confused about how to do this without support when they are alone at home. They also may not be able to accurately identify when additional interventions are needed.
Streamlined care and documented results
The iHealth Unified Care team augments basic medical care by providing personalized support between office visits. This empowers patients to better manage their health at home. The integration of remote monitoring with personalized nutrition counseling, health coaching, and care coordination with physicians is helping to streamline and simplify chronic care management. And the low-to-no-cost for patients of this model ensures that the program is accessible to anyone who needs this level of support.
The clinical results are impressive. Two recent peer-reviewed studies of more than 3,000 patients enrolled in iHealth Unified Care across 39 medical practices found that participation in the program for six months resulted in a 75% reduction in the number of diabetes patients with poorly controlled HbA1c levels (>9%) and a 44% reduction in hypertension patients with uncontrolled blood pressure (>140/90). The number of patients with good control1 of their condition increased by 31% for those with diabetes and 78% for those with hypertension during the same timeframe.
“Many patients who are struggling to manage chronic conditions require a higher level of support in their day-to-day life that is often missing in the traditional healthcare model designed for acute care,” observed iHealth Labs CEO Jack Feng. “But iHealth Labs is committed to changing that scenario. By providing smart monitoring devices at no charge and combining that with the Unified Care support team, iHealth is improving accessibility and outcomes for high-risk patients.”
To learn more about iHealth Unified Care, please visit ihealthunifiedcare.com
Access the full results of the clinical studies here: ADA Journal and AHA Journal.
1 The clinical threshold for “good control” is considered to be <7% HbA1c levels for diabetic patients and <130/80 blood pressure for hypertension patients.