There are lots of health-tracking apps available, but most are for personal use only. uMotif is designed to be used collaboratively between patients and clinicians. Its aim is to improve the quantity and quality of data about patients available to clinicians.
uMotif was showcased at last week's Medtec UK conference.
It began in 2012 as a project looking at Parkinson's disease that was funded by the UK Department of Health’s Small Business Research Initiative. That project has grown into an app designed for "health self-management" and is being used as a means of tracking the long-term conditions of patients, and to monitor the progress of post-operative care. Small-scale trials based on prototype apps were carried out during 2013 and continuous improvements were made.
The idea for uMotif was conceived by company CEO and founder Bruce Hellman, who had already been tracking his sleep and other aspects of his life following the birth of his son. Recognizing the potential value of health-tracking as a means of informing health decisions, Hellman began developing his idea.
In order to develop the app, the company worked with patients, clinicians, patient groups, academics and usability experts. Unlike other health-tracking apps, uMotif can not be downloaded for personal use. Patients are invited to use the app by their clinician, who must also provide a unique registration code to provide access.
The app itself is used to track various aspects of daily life. Subjective data such as mood and diary entries can be recorded, as can more objective data such as glucose level and weight. The data collected is aimed at providing a far more complete picture for a clinician to work with during appointments, with the view of helping to better manage conditions and patient care.
"The main aim is to help people live more healthy, engaged and independent lives, by enhancing peoples' own health self-management, and improving their relationships with clinicians," product manager Alex Hamlin explains to Gizmag.
uMotif will launch launch in the UK this summer on both iOS and Android. It will be deployed initially in 15 NHS centers, and the company is planning to expand rapidly throughout 2014 and 2015.
The video below provides an introduction to uMotif.
Source: uMotif
