Novo Nordisk has launched a new mobile app for US haemophilia patients and their carers to track their treatment, bleeding episodes and the impact of the condition on their life.
The free HemaGo app will be available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices and can record factor usage, reasons for an infusion, details about bleeding events and pain scores, and the personal impact of the bleeding episode.
Eddie Williams, corporate vice president of biopharmaceuticals at Novo Nordisk, said: “For the first time, individuals can track virtually every aspect of living with a bleeding disorder, regardless of their medication or disorder.
“Thanks to input from members in the haemophilia community, we’ve created a first in class offering that provides benefits to all haemophilia patients and healthcare professionals.”
Pharma app launches are not a rare occurrence and HemaGo will compete for space with similar US-patient focused pharma apps from Pfizer (HemMobile), Bayer (Factor Track) Baxter (Beat Bleeds), CSL Behring (HeliTrax). But this one has two things that make it noteworthy.
It offers multiple profiles so that more than one family member can use the tool, which is a nice touch and should help patients and their families, or other carers, track multiple medications and reminders for treatment or doctor’s appointments.
The other unusual feature is the way it syncs with Novo’s haemophilia inhibitor website Changing Possibilities in Hemophilia, where members can access a range of reporting features, such as treatment logs, bleed logs, and quality of life reports.
This information can be shared with the individual’s healthcare team, including their haemophilia treatment centre and home healthcare company.
While Novo does not have access to patient-specific information, the company can see generic, ‘de-identified’, information and follows Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) privacy and security rules.
It’s unusual to see a pharma company be quite so clear about how data, particularly data from its apps, will be used, but, despite the popularity of diary and ‘life-tracker’ apps, which tend to be less than transparent about what they’ll do with your data, this could still be an issue for Novo.
As a user review on iTunes for the company’s healthcare professional bleeding disorder app Coags Uncomplicated put it: “Why does this app request collection of personal data? None of my other medical apps request this!”
• Links to all the apps in this article can be found in the Digital Handbook’s Pharma mobile app listing section
