HealthPia [diabetes]

What they do… HealthPia America has licensed from HealthPia (Korea) the exclusive license for North America to market the GlucoPhone, a cell phone with a built-in glucose monitor for people who suffer from diabetes. HealthPia (Korea), founded in 2002, developed the GlucoPhone in a partnership with Seoul National University and LG Electronics, and launched it in Korea in 2004.
How they do it… · HealthPia has developed a glucose meter ‘module’ that can be fitted onto regular cell phones, and can be used just like any standard glucose meter that you buy in your local pharmacy. · In addition to the hardware, HealthPia has software that is downloaded onto the cell phone which enables it to ‘talk’ to the GlucoPack™ module to test and read glucose levels. · These results are then stored in the cell phone memory and also sent to medical management database via the phones data connection. The patient can also choose to have the results automatically sent to his/her physician, caregiver, or monitoring service so they can monitor it in real-time, and if needed act on it.
How it’s different… There are already solutions being worked on that utilize the cell phone for diabetes management, however they have not achieved true convergence, i.e. all-in-one device. Unlike the HealthPia solution the alternatives are a two-device execution -- they have device #1 (glucose meters) that utilizes wireless Bluetooth connectivity to ‘talk’ to separate device #2 (cell phone).
Potential positives… HealthPia’s GlucoPhone offers an elegant and user friendly solution that is portable and discreet, and offers real-time data exchange without ongoing direct intervention from the user.
Potential negatives… · I can’t really think of any from the user perspective, but once there is someone out there who has been using it maybe they can tall us about both the positives and negatives. · I am not sure I fully understand how the hardware is fitted on to the cell phone; more specifically does this execution require that different versions are made for each cell phone model? If so, I am concerned that it is going to be a challenge to scale this because of the potential need to customize the ‘module’, and port the software for each phone model.
Business model… For now it appears that HealthPia is going to market the product to the consumer themselves and they seem to have entered into a strategic alliance with Logic Mobile, which I believe is a MVNO.
Additional thoughts… · HealthPia (Korea) is a company that really gets the omnipresence of the cell phone in consumers’ lives and subsequently in their health and wellness. Their focus is on helping consumers manage chronic illnesses and their health & beauty needs. For more information about their future vision go to http://www.healthpia.co.kr/medi_e/pro03.html · To manage diabetes optimally patients need to attack it from a few angles: (a) monitoring, (b) medication, (c) nutrition, and (d) exercise. The challenge for HealthPia and other companies trying to offer a complete solution in diabetes management is to incorporate all 4 levers in a simple yet comprehensive and easy-to-use consumer solution.
Source	Company website