by Tony Chen
Check out this post from DiabetesMine on the new GlucoPhone brought to us by HealthPia. An exerpt from the post:
The GlucoPhone is not just for SENDING blood glucose data over the net. It's actually a special glucose meter (GlucoPack™) that's fitted onto the back of a cell phone. So yes, you stick your test strip into a little slot on the side of the phone and bleed on it, just like you would any meter. Then you can immediately "text" your results to a database available online with the subscriber's permission, i.e. you set the access rights.
How cool is that! It'll be interesting to see how new technology potentially leapfrogs our current provider-based and payer-based attempts to address diabetes management. Because the diabetes market is so large (probably 20 million people) and impacts every day life, there are mountains of start-ups now trying to capitalize.
Going back to the same DiabetesMine post, here's an extremely insightful quote from the HealthPia CEO on the "felt need" of people with diabetes:
"The fact of the matter is that most people with diabetes are more concerned with the daily hassle of managing the disease than the long-term complications. But with something like this, we can help cut the hassle and focus on what's important"