video “Directly Observed Therapy” smartphone and web system deployed for Tuberculosis patients
BALTIMORE, MD. (March 6, 2016)
emocha Mobile Health launched its video-based directly observed therapy application, miDOT, in Harris County, Texas. miDOT will be used to bridge the distance between healthcare workers and the tuberculosis (TB) patients that are dispersed across the nearly 1,800 square miles surrounding Houston, which has one of the nation’s highest Tuberculosis rates. The roll-out began in early February after emocha won a competitive bidding process based on a head-to-head pilot with competing technologies.
“We are very excited to work with the Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services Department”, says emocha CEO Sebastian Seiguer. “The team of clinicians and innovators at HCPHES are excellent partners for such a large-scale initiative”.
Traditional DOT requires a healthcare worker to actually observe a patient taking their medication, in person, every day for six months or longer. This is resource-intensive, costly to the system, and burdensome for the patient. Patients use emocha’s HIPAA-compliant smartphone application, miDOT, as a substitute for in-person DOT. They record themselves taking their medication at their own convenience, avoiding long daily drives to the clinic or home visits from healthcare workers. miDOT captures symptoms and securely submits the video to the emocha server, where a clinician can then observe and confirm medication adherence using the emocha web interface. miDOT improves the quality of care by empowering patients and reducing the inefficiencies of in-person DOT.
Dr. Umair A. Shah, Executive Director, HCPHES, says, “We are excited to be the first public health agency to deploy operationally the miDOT technology for treatment of tuberculosis in a large patient population. Time efficiencies, cost savings, and improved medication regimen compliance are all benefits we look forward to from this new technology.”
About emocha Mobile Health
emocha empowers every patient to take every dose of medication through video technology and scalable human engagement. Patients use a smartphone application to video record themselves taking their medication. Providers or emocha Adherence Coaches use a secure web portal to assess adherence and engage with patients. The platform is being used by public health departments, clinical trials, hospitals, health centers, and managed care organizations to radically improve medication adherence for patients with tuberculosis, opioid use disorder, hepatitis C, diabetes, and other chronic and infectious diseases. Learn more at www.emocha.com.
Contact: Morad Elmi | email: mmendes@emocha.com | phone: 410.928.4016
