Ginger.io www.ginger.io enables patients to use smartphones to improve behavioral health in primary and specialty care. The mobile application is using data and deep analytics to identify patterns in the behavior of patients that may impact their health and well-being.
According to Dr. Anmol Madan, Co-Founder and CEO of Ginger.io, “The Company’s smart phone app and analytics engine helps to quantify and understand real-world behavior at scale in many different disease areas. Our academic partners are now able to gain new insight which may lead to better diagnosis, new therapeutics, and interventions for many diseases and conditions.”
The company is taking part in a series of new research collaborations. “The partnerships are using the Ginger.io platform in one or two ways,” said Dr. IIan Elson, Head of Research and Development.
“Our partners are either deploying the company’s core behavioral health programs in new and exciting ways, or they are using the platform to work with new conditions like heart disease and chronic diseases.”
These newly announced partner institutions include UC San Francisco, Partners HealthCare (Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and McLean Hospital), Duke University, UC Davis and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
For example, UCSF www.ucsfhealth.org researchers have launched a multi-arm study to measure digital interventions in patients with major depressive disorders. Interventions are delivered exclusively through remote digital channels with face-to-face interaction between doctors and patients.
UCSF is also working with Ginger.io to help patients suffering from heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and post-operative recovery. As part of the health eHeart Study, the app is helping cardiologists detect early-warning signals for the development and exacerbation of heart disease.
Researchers at Duke University www.dukemedicine.org see the potential for the app to help patients in postoperative recovery settings. When patients are undergoing joint replacement surgery, the Ginger.io app is used to track their recovery, pain. By identifying which patients need the most help, providers can streamline the recovery process and deliver the right level of care to patients who are in the most need.
At the University of Nebraska Medical Center, www.unmc.edu Dr. Kaleb Michaud found that using Ginger.io in an older patient population along with patients participating in the National Data Bank Rheumatic Diseases was successful.
Another research project at the McLean Hospital www.mcleanhospital.org, outside of Boston is using the platform to do research to reduce hospital readmissions for patients with psychiatric conditions including schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.
Dr. Dost Ongur, Chief of McLean’s Psychotic Disorders Division hopes that by detecting early warning signs that someone is struggling, he hopes that patients will be easier to identify if they are in need, and then effective care can be delivered before hospitalization is needed.