According to researchers at the Johns Hopkins University, the emocha platform could not only boost adherence rates, but also save public health programs hundreds of thousands of dollars. “It is critical for patients to take tuberculosis medication as prescribed, since nonadherence can lead to the development of antibiotic resistance or spread of this highly contagious and potentially deadly disease,” states Robert C. Bollinger, MD, MPH, a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and creator of the mobile app. “These findings support new strategies to ensure clinically-effective and patient-centric treatment of tuberculosis.”
Bolstered by additional studies funded by the National Institute of Health, emocha’s mHealth technique known as video directly observed therapy (VDOT) allows providers to better track and manage medication adherence: enabling patients to use smartphones to record themselves taking a prescribed medication at a specific time. Expanding into issues including Hepatitis C, smoking cessation, and HIV treatment, the company will next tackle opioid addiction treatment with a $1.7 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
