SureAdhere Mobile Technology, Inc. Founded To Tackle Medication Adherence For Tuberculosis
Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) June 12, 2015 -- SureAdhere Mobile Technology, Inc.™ (“SureAdhere”), this week announced the company’s founding and the launch of its video-based directly observed therapy (VDOT) mHealth platform to enable effective medication adherence for patients with life-threatening diseases. SureAdhere announced its launch at the National Tuberculosis Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
Building on academic research and successful U.S. and international studies conducted by faculty at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, SureAdhere has commercialized a mobile health platform for VDOT. One-third of the world’s population carry the TB bacteria, and nearly 9 million people fell ill to the disease in 2013, resulting in 1.5 million deaths. TB takes six to 24 months to cure with daily antibiotics, making it difficult for patients to adhere to their treatment regimens. If patients skip doses or stop early, the disease can return and the bacteria can become drug-resistant.
Given the importance of effective TB control, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend directly observed therapy (DOT) for monitoring medication compliance. In DOT, health care workers personally observe patients taking each medication dose for the entire course of treatment. Though effective, DOT is costly and inefficient because it requires daily coordination of patient and provider schedules, as well as travel to meet with patients. Using SureAdhere VDOT, county TB control programs can save thousands of dollars while providing high quality care for their patients and potentially improving compliance and cure rates.
Evaluated through research studies in the U.S., Mexico and Europe that were funded by the National Institutes for Health and the Verizon Foundation, SureAdhere’s VDOT System provides a secure and simple to use alternative to in-person DOT, that is also preferred by patients. Patients with TB use the SureAdhere mobile app to video-record their medication ingestion. The videos are automatically encrypted and uploaded to a secure cloud server where the DOT worker can view the content and make relevant notations in the system’s database of patient records. Participants also benefit from the text messaging capability of the system for reminder notices and patient communication.
Both patients and providers appreciate the effectiveness and convenience of the system. “I used to see two or three patients in an hour,” said one provider. “Now I can see fifteen patients in the same amount of time.”
About SureAdhere Mobile Technology, Inc.
SureAdhere Mobile Technology, Inc. is a San Diego based provider of a unique mobile health platform enabling improved medication adherence monitoring for TB patients. Co-founded by Chief Science Officer, Richard Garfein, PhD, MPH, a global health expert in infectious disease epidemiology and prevention, SureAdhere’s primary focus is on the treatment and cure of TB globally. For more information about SureAdhere visit http://www.sureadhere.com, email info(at)sureadhere(dot)com or call (858) 812-2878.
Bill Coyne, SureAdhere Mobile Technology, Inc., http://www.sureadhere.com, +1 916-719-2251, [email protected]
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