This blog was co-authored by Anand Iyer, PhD, MBA, Chief Analytics Officer, and Abhi Kumbara, Data Science Manager at Welldoc.
The intersection of digital health and cardiometabolic care is shaping the landscape of modern healthcare. Cardiometabolic conditions, such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease, are long-term and require continuous care, contributing significantly to the economic burden on the healthcare system. According to the CDC, 90% of the nation’s $4.1 trillion in healthcare expenditures is for individuals living with chronic and mental health conditions.
Digital health solutions are pivotal tools for proactively and personally managing cardiometabolic conditions. Wearable and connected medical devices enable continuous tracking of vital signs, activity levels, and other relevant health data. Real-time data capabilities empower healthcare providers to monitor patients outside clinical settings, while digital coaching empowers individuals to manage their health.
As the U.S. population continues to age, effectively managing cardiometabolic conditions becomes critical for healthcare systems and individuals.
The Challenge: Navigating the Healthcare Infrastructure Data Maze
As the variety of data sources increases, individuals are increasingly engaged in monitoring their health. The healthcare sector is facing numerous infrastructure challenges associated with this data, creating a complex environment for devising successful strategies for the prevention and management of cardiometabolic conditions, including:
- Data Volume: The exponential growth of electronic health records (EHRs), wearable devices, and health monitoring technologies has led to a massive influx of health data.
- Data Management: Managing, storing, and extracting meaningful insights from this vast volume of information presents a significant hurdle.
- Security and Privacy: Balancing the security and privacy of sensitive patient data with its potential for improving patient care is a delicate task.
- Interoperability: Health data is often siloed across various systems that do not communicate effectively, hindering the creation of a comprehensive patient health history.
- Data Format Issues: Inconsistent data formats and standards further complicate data exchange between healthcare entities, potentially leading to suboptimal decision-making and care coordination.
Bridging the Gap to Extend Connected Care
Real-time, personalized, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven coaching helps individuals make more positive micro-decisions about their daily health. Welldoc‘s digital coaching platform provides personalized support and guidance for managing cardiometabolic conditions. It combines AI with real-time data to create a dynamic and adaptable digital coaching experience, supporting connected “care anywhere” and enabling health plans and systems to extend face-to-face models.
The platform securely connects health data from 400+ devices and solutions, adjusting to specific individual needs based on their conditions, comorbidities, health data, and goals.
The Opportunity: Connecting Meaningful Actionable Insights with Aggregated Data
Integrating Welldoc’s digital coaching platform with the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform enhances personalized care through AI-driven digital health capabilities. Databricks aggregates Welldoc’s extensive and diverse data, creating meaningful actionable insights for individuals using their AI-driven real-time digital coaching.
With access to actionable data and insights, care teams make more timely and informed clinical interventions and decisions. Databricks allows Welldoc to present data to partners at a population level, enabling health plans and systems to better understand segments of their population, enhance chronic care programs, and optimize outcomes.
This partnership between Welldoc and Databricks marks a significant milestone in healthcare infrastructure innovation, particularly in the development of a unified data platform and Delta Sharing for secure data exchange with partners.
Charting the Evolution: Databricks and Welldoc’s Collaborative Future
Welldoc’s AI utilizes Rule-Based AI and Adaptive Machine Learning to provide real-time personalized insights and feedback. Leveraging Databricks Gen AI capabilities, Welldoc aims to integrate advanced AI features into their products in the future, empowering health plans, health systems, and individuals with personalized data-driven insights that optimize cardiometabolic care and promote total health advancement.
Learn more about Welldoc at www.welldoc.com.
*Welldoc Diabetes Rx/OTC is an FDA-cleared medical device (“BlueStar”), intended for use by healthcare providers and their adult patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. For full labeling information, visit www.welldoc.com. The other Welldoc products are non-FDA-cleared and intended to promote general wellness and education/self-management of various chronic disease states.