The infiltration of technology into everyday patient care continues to ramp up, but patients are often reluctant or uncomfortable using increasingly sophisticated technology devices to say, monitor diabetes or check glucose levels. This is where software development companies, such as Canada-based Macadamian, are seizing the opportunity to design interfaces that make it more comfortable for users to interact with sometimes intimidating medical products.
At the recent MDTX show in New Jersey, Lorraine Chapman, Senior Director of Healthcare for Macadamian, said that human factors need to be increasingly be considered as trends such as patient-centered healthcare continue to grow.
“You need to account for the end user,” said Chapman an interview with Medical Design Technology. “Lots of medical design companies are looking at digital solutions. We need to develop an engagement platform to support medical devices.”
Chapman added that Macadamian has worked with medical product device makers such as Medtronics and Siemens to develop patient engagement platforms that provide a friendlier user interface. The company also works with doctors and other medical professionals to get an idea of their workflow so the patient interface can be optimized.
Macadamian has developed several patient-centric products to help individuals manage their treatment regimes. One of these is My Diabetes Coach™, a voice-based platform to help those with type 2 diabetes better manage their care. Operating through an integrated wearable device or mobile phone, the platform engages the patient through dialogue to provide a personal and empathetic virtual coaching experience that is enabled through AI. It is designed to facilitate treatment adherence and makes care management less overwhelming.
Chapman added that the patient-centric platforms are designed to involve a patient’s family and caregivers to help ensure compliance. For instance, Diabetes Coach™ enables participation from all members of the patient’s circle of care (caregivers, family, peers, and clinical team) via a mobile app, Amazon Alexa skill, and patient portal.
The video below shows how My Diabetes Coach ™ interacts with the patient.
