Could the increasingly ubiquitous cellphone hold the key to disease management?

With the day of the doctor’s “house” call having passed from the scene many decades ago is there a way that a cellphone can provide some of the essential services that house calls used to represent?

Can patients be empowered by using their cellphones to fill a gap in the healthcare industry?

How important is real-time management to case management and improving prevention and treatment?

One company, BeWell Mobile Technology, founded in 2004, has addressed these questions directly.  BeWell provides patient engagement software for the healthcare industry and medical research community.

BeWell software leverages the ubiquity of cellphones, wireless data networks and the Internet to collect valid data and to help patients manage their health.

By incorporating self monitoring, via cellphones, BeWell is demonstrating the impact of patient engagement and the importance of remote patient monitoring. Asthma and diabetes are two of the most significant conditions being addressed by BeWell currently.

BeWell provides a technology platform, combining flexibility, real-time availability and cost-effectiveness.  By employing mobile phones, BeWell collects patient data “anytime, anywhere” so that healthcare providers can track a patient’s progress and determine if personal intervention is required.

At the same time, patients have access to personalized information that helps them stay on track with their regimen. And all without having to rely on paper logbooks and diaries.

Based in San Francisco, BeWell has created a Management Team comprised of software, healthcare and telecommunications industry leaders and innovators who have helped develop, build and implement technology for companies including Apple, AT&T, Cingular, Qualcomm, Siebel Systems and Verizon.

The BeWell team understands that an overriding concern of healthcare professionals is the dilemma of “patient engagement.”  The question being asked by the industry is “How do we effectively involve patients with doctors, nurses and others involved with health management?” More than simply transmitting data between provider and patient, BeWell has created proprietary applications that takes advantage of the increasing availability and power of cellphones as the core communications device across nearly all population demographics.

BeWell provides patient engagement software in the following areas:

1. Medical Management
2. Medical Research

The Company is currently engaged in pilot projects with nationally-known health care providers and organizations.