Real-life Examples

Real-life Solution: A 14 year-old girl with Diabetes

A girl named Lisa who has Diabetes is at school, and it is time to test her blood and receive insulin or another medication. But she is hanging out in the playground, and has lost track of time. The first thing that happens is her cell phone beeps, to remind her it is time to test her blood. If Lisa or her teacher hears her phone, she gets her reminder, but what if she has left it in her locker, and her teacher is busy with other kids?

The phone will try again to alert her after a couple of minutes, but of course, she will not hear it. At that point, Lisa’s mother’s cell phone gives her an alert that Lisa has missed her measurement and medication, and a fax alert is immediately sent to the nurses’ office at the school. Lisa’s mother can remotely activate the speakerphone on Lisa’s cell to try to speak to her directly, and she can call the school. The nurse can find Lisa and ensure she tests her blood. Once she does test her blood, the glucose meter will wirelessly transmit the reading to her cell phone, which will in turn transmit the information to our database for storage. If the readings consistently meet a pre-defined target over time, for example the glucose reading is dangerously high for several days in a row, another alert may be sent to the doctor’s office, indicating that a potential problem exists and intervention may be required. Also, the cell phone reminds Lisa that she should eat something after she takes her medication. All of these reminders and alerts are configurable and customizable.

Real-life Solution: A 70 year-old man with CHF

A man named Ralph who has congestive heart failure is just waking up in the morning. His phone beeps and flashes, alerting him it is time to begin his morning routine. The phone walks Ralph through a carefully detailed series of steps, which include a reminder to step on the scale and weigh himself. The scale transmits the information to his phone, and alerts him that he has gained more than two pounds overnight. Due to this weight gain, the phone asks another series of questions to determine whether intervention is required. Ralph answers questions about how well he slept, whether he felt short of breath or required more pillows than usual, and how he is feeling this morning. Ralph answers these questions using interactive voice response, because he prefers this to pressing the buttons on the phone. Based on his answers, Ralph receives a follow-up phone call from the GenerationOne nursing center. The nurse asks a series of follow-up questions and reviews his online PHR, and recommends that Ralph call his physician right away, offering to connect him immediately. At the same time, the nurse sends an alert to Ralph’s physician with the results of Ralphs morning data collection, so the doctor will have all the information he needs at his fingertips when he speaks with Ralph.