Angelo Pitassi Jr., Founder and CEO of Health ID, never imagined the day his youngest son would be diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes is a disease that is hard enough for a grown adult, but Pitassi never realized how difficult it was to manage on a day-to-day basis for a 3 year old.
His son had to prick his finger 7 times for blood sugar testing and have 4 insulin injections every single day. By 11 years old, they had used 32,120 needles.
Pitassi knew he needed a way to track his son’s information and be able to distribute it to anyone at a moments notice, and he knew he wasn’t alone.
So he created Health ID.
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How Health ID works
Health ID is an online platform and app that allows you to manage and record all your health information and have access from anywhere. You can also list and manage medications, and set up daily reminders.
When the platform is coupled with a patient’s Health ID band or card, instant access can be granted in a medical emergency, a routine doctor visit or to a caregiver. When you purchase your Health ID band or card you can use the platform for life.
Health ID is currently available in approximately 15,000 stores across the U.S. and online after launching into full retail distribution last year.
Pitassi joined the Sprint Health Accelerator powered by Techstars in March 2015 along with nine other health technology companies.
The Sprint Health Accelerator program pairs companies with a network of mentors. Companies have access to Sprint technologies, engineers and executives with knowledge on everything from Human Resources to Finance and everything in between.
The future of pharmacy is engagement
Health ID’s next rollout will provide pharmacies with an enterprise-level platform. This will allow providers access to their patient information. They will better be able to gauge how their customers are interacting with their medications and can predict issues before they happen.
Many pharmacies have already started engaging more with their customers, but handing them this information could drastically improve patient care and drop much of the cost in the health care system due to poor medication adherence.
“Our [ability] to add something new to the daily routines of pharmacy teams is always a challenge. No matter how easy we make it,” said Pitassi.
“Increased engagement can lead to lower turnover which will create more revenue for the pharmacies”
“But the good news is, we are at a point where pharmacies are asking questions about how they can better engage,” said Pitassi.
“[They are asking,] ‘How do we better increase adherence?’ So when we hear these types of things we know the door is more open now, than it has ever been,” said Pitassi.
Pitassi believes that user engagement is central for both consumers and pharmacies.
“Engagement isn’t just about taking medications as they should be,” said Pitassi. “Engagement is really critical. Engagement drives the experience. Increased engagement can lead to lower turnover [of pharmacy customers], which will create more revenue for the pharmacies.”
Wearable personal health data for everyone
As Health ID continues to develop on the retail side, Pitassi also has plans for the consumer. They are redesigning the wearable to create something more fashionable that has interchangeable capabilities.
“We have started looking at redesigns of the band and we want to make it something that can be dressed up or dressed down, perhaps even worn on a belt or as a necklace,” said Pitassi.
“Our goal is to keep the purchase price down. Right now retail sits at around $20 and allows you to use Health ID for as long as you want. We want to continue to keep that cost down with no plans for a subscription based model.”
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Abagail Pumphrey is the founder of ThinkCreativeKC.com, an online resource that shares ideas to excite, empower and motivate small business owners.
