Uber Health Charts Expansion Into Employer Market
Uber Health has announced the expansion of its platforms into the employer market.
The company says that the lessons learned in Medicaid and Medicare Advantage (MA) are applicable in the employer space, too. Making the pitch to those firms is the main challenge.
Medicaid has covered non emergency medical transport in some form since 1966, and the return on investment has been clearly established in MA. Employers are still to catch up on this.
Uber informed that the platform has found that in ‘Medicaid, its services can play a key role in addressing absenteeism, as it makes it far easier for people to reach appointments without needing to take much time off of work. Getting people to their medical visits also leads to better management of chronic conditions, which can reduce lost productivity.’
Uber Health already helps in closing gaps in care, as getting people to necessary appointments can prevent more serious diseases. The platform can also make it easier for people who need frequent visits to their physicians as well, such as people undergoing chemotherapy or who need dialysis. The company also does work in benefits administration and network design, which fit neatly under the employer umbrella.
NTT Research and Harvard Collaborate on Cardiovascular Bio Digital Twin
NTT Research has announced a three-year joint research agreement with the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).
NTT Research scientists from Medical & Health Informatics (MEI) Lab will work with the Disease Biophysics Group (DBG) at SEAS to ‘engineer a model of the human heart, elucidate fundamental laws of muscular pumps, and apply lessons learned to a cardiovascular (CV) bio digital twin model.’
The project builds upon advances in bioengineering and the two organization’s overlapping strategic goals. ‘Micro-physiological systems, or organs on chips, have given scientists at Harvard’s DBG an in vitro method of testing therapeutics in cells reprogrammed to an embryonic-like pluripotent state that recapitulates a disease of interest.’
In its nearly two decades of working toward the goal of engineering a human heart, the DBG has found ways to use human stem cell-derived cardiac myocytes to understand how to build muscular pumps and their fundamental design laws.
For its part, the MEI Lab has developed bioelectrodes as the interfaces with cells and tissues to accelerate the development of an in vitro CV bio digital twin.
The joint research promises to elucidate structure-function relationships of the heart that may have been overlooked in the canon of CV physiology.
47% of Type 2 Diabetes Patients Say a RPM Program Would Help Them Better Manage Their Health
A Diabetes Care Survey results released by Smart Meter provided important insights into how remote patient monitoring (RPM) can benefit patients with chronic conditions.
One of the most important findings was that 47 per cent of the participants said they would test their glucose more consistently if they knew the results were being transmitted to their provider.
This coincides with the fact that RPM has become more popular with both providers and patients because it increases patient adherence and can help improve outcomes.
As per the data released, approximately 26 million citizens in the US have Type 2 diabetes, and testing and knowing their glucose readings on a regular basis can help people with Type 2 diabetes and their physician better manage their disease.
But about 45% of them do not test regularly and many only see their doctor once or twice a year.
With cellular-enabled remote glucose monitoring solutions, providers are assured of getting the latest and most accurate data when a patient tests. This can help identify trends, prevent hospitalization, and improve outcomes.
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