Health Startup's App Tracks What Ails You

Posted: October 17, 2012 at 7:17 am


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Thanks to Nike FuelBand, Fitbits, and BodyMedia devices, fitness enthusiasts can now obsessively track their exercise levels, calorie counts, and vital signs. That data is typically fed into an online dashboard that spits out health, diet, and fitness recommendations to help people reach specific goals, like weight loss.

Boston-based Healthrageous is trying to do the same thing, but for people with serious medical conditions that require daily monitoring, like diabetes or hypertension. For its disease-fighting efforts, the company has raised $6.5 million in a second round of funding from North Bridge Venture Partners, Long River Ventures and Egan-Managed Capital. That brings the companys total funding to $15 million.

Healthrageous is a self-management platform for managing behaviors that could lead to chronic disease, says CEO Rick Lee. Those behaviors include poor diet, lack of exercise, bad sleep habits, smoking, and drinking alcohol. The platform pulls in data from health records, mobile apps, and health devices, such as a blood sugar monitors or scales, to track important medical benchmarks. The information is fed into a dashboard viewable on smartphones and the web where both the patient and doctor can see crucial medical data. Doctors can then send medication reminders or suggest appointments, and patients get cues on what they can do to reach their health goals.

Healthrageous sells its service to health insurers and employers, who can use the platform to sign up their subscribers or employees. When someone joins Healthrageous, they answer a few questions about their lifestyle (how active they are, if they smoke or drink), and asked to set a goal, such as fit into certain dress size, or be able to play with their grandkids.

They then get a custom plan and a condition-specific medical device to reach that goal. Diabetic patients might receive a blood glucose monitor, those with hypertension get a blood pressure reader, and healthy adults are sent an accelerometer to count their steps. To keep people motivated to stick with their Heathrageous plan, the system coaches them with incentives and consistently reminds them about why they are trying to get healthy in the first place.

Currently, Healthrageous sends its own wireless biometric devices blood pressure meters, blood glucose monitors, scales, and accelerometers to patients, but the company is working toward a device-agnostic platform that can pull in data from any and all medical devices and health apps. The end goal is to combine every piece of data on your health and put it together in a meaningful way to let both you and your doctor know exactly whats going on and you make real changes for your health.

Getting healthy isnt just about your past medical history, says Lee. We can know more about you if tell us that you watch TV for five hours every night than if we just looked at your medical record.

Household service-booking startup Handybook has raised $2 million in seed funding from General Catalyst Partners, Highland Capital Partners and private investors. Deemed Uber for professionals, the site helps you find plumbers, electricians, house cleaners, painters, furniture assemblers, and other qualified professionals that you can book on-demand. Handybook pre-screens and background-checks each person and you can pay for your service online through the site.

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Health Startup's App Tracks What Ails You

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October 17th, 2012 at 7:17 am

Posted in Health and Fitness




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