Livongo Launches First Voice-Enabled Cellular Blood Pressure Monitoring System for Home Use
On November 1, 2018 (U.S. local time), VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned that Livongo, the first startup to leverage Applied Health Signals technology for chronic disease management, announced three key initiatives: the launch of its first voice-enabled, cellular-connected home blood pressure monitoring system; the introduction of free medication incentives for select members; and the onboarding of new partners. While these moves may appear disparate, they all align with Livongo’s core mission of building its “Applied Health Signals” platform.
Image source: mobihealthnews website
“Health signals” consist of consumers’ personal behaviors, health information, lifestyles, and preferences. These signals can guide individuals and their care providers to proactively make changes to optimize clinical outcomes. Typically, due to the overwhelming complexity of health data for patients with chronic diseases, it is difficult for patients and their care providers to extract practically actionable insights. This vast amount of meaningless data is referred to in the healthcare industry as “medical data noise.” Medical data noise negatively impacts consumers’ health management by increasing complexity, adding confusion, and raising costs. Livongo has innovatively adopted an approach of collecting, interpreting, applying, and iterating—continuously improving health signals (abbreviated as AI+AI)—to eliminate medical data noise and optimize patients’ health management.
The application of health signals is considered a novel technology that, for the first time, integrates data science, behavioral implementation, and clinical impact.
Livongo’s newly launched products and partnerships, which leverage health signals and AI+AI, include:
1. The first cellular blood pressure monitoring system with voice functionality. This improvement builds upon Livongo’s previously launched cellular blood pressure monitoring system, enabling its members to quickly and conveniently upload data to Livongo’s cloud platform. The next-generation system will allow users to interact with Livongo via voice commands. This innovation offers a novel approach to delivering actionable, personalized, and timely health insights, which can drive behavior change and improve clinical outcomes.
2. A Behavior-Driven Program Providing Free Medications. Eligible Livongo members will receive free therapeutic medications provided by the company. This innovation overcomes critical cost-related barriers to access and enables Livongo to leverage personalized data insights to motivate patients to adopt health behaviors that lead to improved clinical outcomes.
3. Partnership with Medisafe. Livongo recently announced a collaboration with Medisafe to jointly improve medication management for patients with chronic diseases. This will further enhance the data and functionality of Livongo’s health signal system. Previously, Livongo had entered into partnership agreements with companies such as Lilly and Abbott.
“Livongo Chief Medical Officer Jennifer Schneider stated, ‘We have achieved measurable clinical outcomes. As more data flows into our engine, we will further expand our impact on behavior change and improve clinical outcomes for more patients with chronic diseases.’”
Image source: abc6 website
Livongo’s voice-based blood pressure monitoring system and patient incentive program will launch in 2019.
About Livongo
Livongo, founded in 2014 and headquartered in California, USA, is a leading digital health company. In recent years, Livongo has gradually evolved from a startup focused on diabetes management into an enterprise specializing in chronic condition management, continuously expanding into new areas. To date, the company has raised approximately $240 million across six rounds of financing.