 |
| GreatCall app--Courtesy of GreatCall |
GreatCall, maker of mobile health and safety apps, is adding the AliveCor Heart Monitor for detecting atrial fibrillation to its offerings. AliveCor's electrocardiogram can now be mounted to back of the GreatCall3 smartphone and used with the AliveECG app.
"With access to an easy-to-use, affordable mobile health tool, patients can instantly communicate data to physicians without an office or hospital visit. This can positively impact access to care, costs and, potentially, outcomes," said GreatCall CEO David Inns, in a statement.
The now-GreatCall3 compatible heart monitor and associated app is available for $199 on the AliveCor website.
All GreatCall smartphones have the 5Star app enabling immediate access to an agent who is trained in emergency protocols such as CPR and dispatching 911 services. The GreatCall3 also contains a medication reminder app and provides daily health tips, among healthcare-focused features.
"We are excited to work with GreatCall as it is clear to us that they really understand the needs of the active aging population who are at a higher risk for stroke and other serious heart conditions," said AliveCor CEO Euan Thomson, in the statement.
The company is building a database of the more than 1 million ECGs taken so far to build other algorithms and continue to improve its data-analysis capabilities. At any one time AliveCor's device has about 6,000 users.
Over the long run, AliveCor plans to become known as a data company, rather than an ECG device one. Thomson previously told FierceMedicalDevices that, "we want to start to understand why people are in atrial fibrillation sometimes and other times they're not. What are the triggers that cause the heart to go from normal beating to atrial fibrillation? For that we need lots and lots of people to be sharing their data with us. Not just the afib, but other lifestyle parameters."
Meanwhile, a recent study found the downstream effect of strokes to be higher than commonly believed, highlighting the need for prevention efforts.
- read the release
Special Report: FierceMedicalDevices' 2014 Fierce 15 - AliveCor