Living Proof Institute: Remote Patient Monitoring and Oura Ring Integration

Living Proof Institute: Remote Patient Monitoring and Oura Ring Integration

Introduction

The Living Proof Institute is a trusted functional wellness and lifestyle practice based in Canada that leverages remote patient monitoring (RPM) for their functional wellness programs.

Living Proof’s transformational functional wellness programs use the Oura ring digital health device along with a customized Heads Up dashboard to enable effective RPM.

The Living Proof Institute leverages a team of functional medicine practitioners and health coaches for client behavioral and lifestyle changes, client engagement, and outcomes research from their RPM program.

Integrating RPM and Heads Up technology into the practice has expanded options for cost-efficient and continuous client health monitoring, increased client engagement, and created opportunities for aggregate data collection and analysis.

About

The Living Proof Institute was established in 2011 by founder and CEO Dr. Sachin Patel, a chiropractor, functional medicine practice success coach, author, international speaker, and philanthropist.

Dr. Patel’s career began as a chiropractor for sports, soft tissue injuries, and repetitive sports injuries. During this time, he realized that many of his clients primarily had chronic health issues, which led him to functional medicine.

The Living Proof Institute was created with a commitment to helping clients find the root of their health challenges so that their bodies could heal themselves.

Today, the Institute provides simple, practical, and affordable solutions that promote self-care and personal responsibility. This allows for client empowerment to be able to create abundant health from the comfort of their homes.

Three major pillars for health in Living Proof’s philosophy on longevity is to support an individual’s breathing, circadian rhythms, and sleep quality. The Institute offers one-on-one and group Functional Wellness programs, a self-paced online program, and an email-based free program.

With their innovative approach to longevity and functional medicine, the Living Proof Institute stands out for their clinical and business practices across the world.

Business Challenges

Heads Up Health worked with the Living Proof Institute to create a Remote Patient Monitoring solution to address their unique challenges:

  • Objective biomarker data
    • As an integrative medical practice based in Canada, chiropractors at Living Proof experienced challenges in being able to directly order lab tests for their clients. The practice needed to find a way to get biomarkers to assess client health without using expensive, invasive lab testing.
  • Comprehensive data collection
    • For their health coaching program, The Living Proof Institute needed a way to seamlessly integrate data from client journals and cutting-edge wearable devices (Oura ring) into a centralized dashboard.
  • Passive data collection
    • The functional wellness programs relied on active data collection from methods such as HeartMath, which led to incomplete client-led data collection. They needed a solution that could passively collect biometric data from clients, aggregate data, and make it easier to conduct research on client outcomes.
  • Uniform client experience
    •  The practitioners work with clients internationally and required commercially-available options that could be used throughout.

Technology Solutions

Heads Up worked with Living Proof to create a technology solution to help meet their unique needs. Heads Up helped the practice integrate the Oura ring, the top-of-the-line sleep and activity tracker, into monitoring parasympathetic nervous system activity and improving client outcomes.

Heads Up also created a custom and centralized dashboard for clients to communicate with their functional medicine practitioners and health coaches at the Living Proof Institute.

Oura Ring Integration

The Oura ring is a highly sensitive wearable device that measures sleep, activity, and body stress signals. 

The primary biomarker used by the Living Proof Institute to assess client health is heart rate variability (HRV). This biomarker correlates to autonomic nervous system activity, and physiological changes from sympathetic to parasympathetic nervous system activity, indicative of healing and resilience down to the cellular level.

Variations in HRV can be related to changes in illness, hydration status, sleep quality, physical and mental stress, and diet quality.

In addition to HRV, the Oura ring allows for daily monitoring of respiratory rate, heart rate, deep sleep, temperature, and REM – key lifestyle factors that cannot be measured with bloodwork.

Customized Dashboard

Heads Up created a dashboard to integrate Oura ring data and self-reported client data into a single location for clients and providers. The Living Proof Institute utilizes the reports features to highlight client progress and personalize lifestyle recommendations.

Health Coach

The Living Proof Institute leverages health coaches to support its RPM programs.

 Health coach Alice Modrzejewski from the Institute runs one of the functional wellness programs. She works with clients to onboard them for ordering and sizing their Oura rings, connecting them to the Heads Up platform, and providing individualized coaching support for the length of the program.

As a health coach, Alice utilizes the Heads Up dashboard to create weekly reports based on Oura ring data and client inputs. The custom Heads Up dashboard allows health coaches to easily communicate with clients, give personalized recommendations, and monitor trends from lifestyle changes.

Business Outcomes

By using the remote monitoring solution created by Heads Up, the Living Proof Institute was able to achieve the following outcomes:

Increased Client Empowerment

Thanks to RPM and data generated from the Oura ring, clients are able to see nuanced changes in HRV from day to day, instead of fragmented quarterly changes seen in traditional lab testing.

Health coaches review Heads Up Health Reports with clients during follow-ups, highlighting changes in sleep, HRV, and other metrics.

As a result, clients have an increased awareness of their health status and the impact of their lifestyle choices and can see the real-time impact of functional wellness intervention. Clients are more motivated to continue healthy lifestyle modification, even after the end of their program.

Improved Data Collection

Thanks to passive data collection from the Oura ring, HRV data uptake is nearly 100%. Data collection is also more comprehensive, being able to track daily changes in HRV and other biometric data that cannot be obtained from traditional lab work.

With the technology solution from Heads Up, the Living Proof Incident can automatically collect and aggregate client data from wearable devices and self-report, analyze health trends, and more easily conduct outcomes research.

Summary

The Living Proof Institute is a trailblazing leader in functional medicine practices to support client vitality through behavioral and lifestyle changes to support optimal breathing, circadian rhythms, and sleep quality.

Their programs integrate Oura ring digital health device data with interview-driven client data, and individualized support from health coaches and practitioners. Heart rate variability tracking is at the center of monitoring client progress and outcomes.

To address Living Proof’s issues of incomplete data collection, difficulty getting objective client biomarkers, and centralized data collection, Heads Up created a seamless experience for practitioners, health coaches, and clients.

The Institute now uses HRV, an accurate biomarker for functional practices that is accessible to clients in all countries.

With passive data collection, the Living Proof Institute has a more comprehensive data set from clients that can be used to study client outcomes.

Lastly, clients are more motivated and empowered to make lifestyle changes thanks to a centralized dashboard making communication with health coaches and monitoring of their health status easier.

Interested in exploring a custom-built RPM program for your practice?

Have more questions?

Schedule a discovery call to talk with a Heads Up representative.

RootCauses Medical Clinic: Lab Data Management & Health Analytics Tools

Dr. Sara K. – Integrated Oncology @ RootCauses Medical Clinic in San Antonio, TX

Patient Health Data Management For Integrative Oncology

Root Causes is a functional medicine clinic with a specialty in integrative oncology based in San Antonio, Texas. The comprehensive whole-person approach at Root Causes is designed to find the underlying triggers of patient symptoms and use this data to help them return to good health. 

Whenever possible, practitioners at Root Causes utilize natural and holistic healing methods in their treatment. For example, they specialize in integrative oncology, which is an evidence-based, patient-centered approach to cancer care that combines natural products, lifestyle modifications, mind and body practices, and conventional medical and surgical treatment practices. The ultimate goal is to relieve current symptoms, reverse the progression of existing diseases, and prevent the development of future illnesses as much as possible.

Root Causes leans on the expertise of functional medicine practitioners. They are focused on identifying underlying factors contributing to their patients’ health challenges and creating a care plan tailored to their unique needs. 

Introducing Heads Up Health technology into their practice has helped Root Causes provide more efficient, secure, and timely care for patients. In turn, this has also strengthened provider-patient communication and patient empowerment to monitor their health. 

About

Root Causes was established by founder and Medical Director Dr. Derek W. Guillory. His personal history of health challenges early in life led him to be curious about helping his patients answer the question: “Why am I sick?” 

Today, Root Causes is a place people can go to better understand what’s going on with their health and navigate the best path forward. This includes access to many functional medicine practitioners, including physicians, nurse practitioners, psychologists, and lifestyle and nutrition coaches. 

Root Causes specializes in conditions related to: 

  • Cancer – Oncology 
  • Digestion
  • Inflammation
  • Autoimmunity
  • Heart Health
  • Metabolism
  • Skin 
  • Chronic Pain
  • Hormonal Imbalances
  • Body Composition
  • Mental Wellness
  • Athletic and Sports Injuries
  • Brain Health
  • Respiratory Health

They also welcome patients who have otherwise unexplainable symptoms and are seeking another perspective. 

Practice Challenges

Heads Up Health was able to work closely with Root Causes to specifically address challenges in their practice that were interfering with optimal data management for their patients, including:

Large Amount of Data to Manage

At Root Causes, providers obtain a long list of blood values as part of their patient onboarding process. While many oncologists and healthcare providers rely on standard markers like complete blood count (CBC), Root Causes goes far beyond this, also looking at ketones, thyroid, hormones, and inflammatory markers like C-reaction protein (hs-CRP). 

Additionally, they track a patient’s immune-related nutrients, like Vitamins A, D, and B12, zinc, selenium, and homocysteine, as well as enzymes and blood coagulation studies to help determine the best care plan. Urinalyses are also collected to evaluate levels of heavy metals, mold, and environmental toxins that may be present.

This results in a large amount of data to maintain, update, and evaluate for each patient. Doing so is essential to provide the quality of comprehensive care that RootCause providers seek, particularly for their integrative oncology patients and other complex cases.

Tedious Process for Patients

Most people are familiar with how challenging it can be to access your health records when you need them. The providers at Root Causes recognized that their patients have enough on their plate without adding obstacles to their own health data accessibility. 

For instance, the only way patients had access to their data was to log in to their portal and scroll through pages of PDFs of their lab work. This made it difficult to see progress and compare labs over time.

High Risk of Human Error

Before using Heads Up Health, the practitioners at Root Causes were manually entering patient data, like blood work trends, into a shared spreadsheet. This naturally made for a higher likelihood of human error given the risk of input error or accidental deletion.

Potential Security Risks

Given the use of shared spreadsheets that were not private, Root Causes practitioners had to be extra careful about what they were sending to patients using their previous system to ensure confidentiality.

Time-Consuming Data Entry, Comparison, and Sharing 

Root Causes providers noted that their original way of entering patient information and updating labwork was extremely time-consuming. Not only were they entering individual lab values (many of which extended multiple years), but they were also labeling them one by one with an H for “high” or an L for “low” to highlight any abnormal trends.

The process of sharing patient data with other providers was also tedious and required a lot of manual input. Furthermore, if they needed to compare patient labs, they would have to create two PDFs and compare them side-by-side and line-by-line.

Technology Solutions

The providers at Root Causes were seeking ways to reduce the amount of labor required to maintain and update patient records and redirect that focus back to what they care about the most: their patients themselves. 

Heads Up Health Concierge Lab Data Mapping Services is a done-for-you service that takes existing patient data and organizes it into a new system. Integrating it into the framework of Root Causes patient care has resulted in significant improvements in their data management. 

Root Causes patients can now access their data quickly using either an app or a web browser to log into a secure portal. Additionally, they have real-time access to their labs and can see when a change has been made. 

Heads Up Health automatically assigns “high” and “low” color values to labs so everyone can easily see if something is abnormal. Data can be easily viewed in a chart that shows how labs have been trending over time.

More Control and Accessibility

Heads Up Health offers significantly more control over what data is being seen on screen. This improves the organization of lab results and the visibility of important markers. No more guessing, endless scrolling, searching, or manually piecing together data points to determine health trends.

Overall, the implementation of Heads Up Health Concierge Lab Data Mapping Services has resulted in greater workflow efficiency, lower costs, and better outcomes for the patients and the providers at Root Causes.

Patient Care Outcomes 

Root Causes takes a whole-person approach to understanding, supporting, and treating their patients. The majority of the patients who find treatment at Root Causes establish long-term relationships with their care providers. 

Since the implementation of Heads Up Heath technology, patients at Root Causes report accessing and monitoring their health trends more frequently. 

The providers have also noticed that this has improved their ability to hone in on patient behavioral change, motivation, and adherence to their care plan. Streamlining the process of data management at Root Causes supports improved long-term patient outcomes.

Summary

Root Causes is a functional medical clinic leading the way for whole-person health advocacy and overall better patient care. They aim to help patients identify the underlying causes of their health concerns so they can make a targeted, comprehensive treatment plan. Whether you have a condition related to digestion, heart health, inflammation, or unknown origin, Root Causes is poised to offer a long-term and collaborative solution.

Heads Up Health worked with Root Causes to address their primary concern of inefficient, low-security, and time-consuming patient data management. The clinic now utilizes Heads Up Health Concierge Lab Data Mapping Services to efficiently organize patient data and make it easily accessible, for patients and providers alike.

Furthermore, patients are more empowered to understand what’s going on with their health, monitor their lab trends, and communicate with their providers about their experiences, wins, and challenges. 

If your healthcare practice is in a similar boat, our done-for-you data mapping services can streamline your data management process so you can fully focus on patient care.

Ready to explore the possibilities? 

Get started using Heads Up + Concierge with a complementary starter account: Sign up for a free account.

Have more questions?

Schedule a discovery call to talk with a Heads Up representative.

AndHealth tackles auto-immune conditions with digital therapeutics powered by Oura and Heads Up. 

AndHealth tackles auto-immune conditions with digital therapeutics powered by Oura and Heads Up. 

About AndHealth

AndHealth is a digital health company that treats patients remotely for chronic autoimmune conditions with a focus on root causes and participatory healthcare.

AndHealth was started by founder and CEO Matt Scantland, previous co-founder and CEO of CoverMyMeds, one of the largest healthcare technology companies in the United States. He was motivated to begin the company through his personal experience with a chronic condition, and how participatory healthcare can help reverse chronic disease.

AndHealth recognizes that health is largely driven by social factors including nutrition, stress, sleep, and movement. Their approach aims to stop autoimmune disease progression by addressing root causes. They also aim to reduce the need for biologics typically used in conventional medicine to manage autoimmune conditions, which have the potential to cause long-term side effects.

AndHealth uses remote patient monitoring powered by <ŌURA> and Heads Up to support clients on their journey to health through continuous and virtual healthcare. They utilize a multidisciplinary team including physicians, gastroenterologists, rheumatologists, and PharmDs with access to PhD researchers and individuals from the <Institute of Functional Medicine>.

Their  autoimmune reversal program launched in early 2023 initially focusing on migraines, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases including Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.

Business Challenges


Unlike conventional approaches to auto-immune conditions which rely mainly on pharmaceutical interventions, AndHealth emphasizes a root-cause approach focused on addressing and optimizing lifestyle factors (diet, sleep, exercise, stress) as the primary focus of treatment.

A technology solution was required which could remotely capture patient biometrics on diet, sleep, exercise and stress on a daily basis. This data needs to be relayed to AndHealth patients, providers and health coaches to enable real-time monitoring, patient education and remote health optimization.

Technology Solution

AndHealth partnered with Heads Up and Oura to develop a remote physiological monitoring solution for their auto-immune program.

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Oura Ring

Each patient in the Autoimmune program is equipped with an Oura Ring upon enrollment.

Oura Ring allows AndHealth to remotely capture important biometrics on a daily basis indicating how well each patient is managing their physical recovery, stress levels, sleep, and exercise.

The data points from Oura Ring are used in the program to identify when patients might be getting run down or sick which can lead to an increased risk of an autoimmune flare. The data is also used to help patients create tiny habits to improve sleep, movement, and stress management.

Heads Up

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The Heads Up platform holistically integrates Oura data from all patients into a centralized platform.

Patient-facing dashboards enable individuals to engage with their biometrics so they can learn how corrective lifestyle actions lead to improved health. Provider facing dashboards put Oura data from all clients on a single screen for fast and easy analysis.

Customized reports help providers track cohort outcomes and personalize the program for each patient. Alerts are configured to flag biomarkers that are trending out-of-range.  

Additionally, Heads Up is being used to centrally manage other forms of biometric data including lab results and other forms of objective and subjective patient-generated data.

AndHealth Coaches

At the core of the AndHealth auto-immune program are the health coaches that support clients on their journey toward optimal health.

These health coaches are trained through reputable health coach certification programs and work with AndHealth’s physicians to review patient data, educate patients and coordinate care.

Outcomes

Leveraging advanced wearables like Oura Ring with remote monitoring software from Heads Up opens up new treatment possibilities for AndHealth.

Powerful views into patient health outside the doctor’s office are now possible. Lifestyle factors contributing to a patient’s condition can be flagged and used for corrective action and patient education. Outcomes can be assessed using biomarkers like heart rate variability in addition to conventional biomarkers such as diagnostic lab results.

Let’s explore a couple specific examples.

Early detection

Patient A in their 60’s has psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. They started several supplements to improve gut health as part of their AndHealth treatment plan.

On March 17 the patient reported one of the supplements was causing gas, bloating and GI distress. On March 21 they started to have body aches, headaches and felt feverish.

Oura Ring measures temperature trends while sleeping. A sudden rise in skin temperature can indicate an auto-immune flare or impending illness such as an infection.

Upon review of their Oura data in the Heads Up platform (see figure x), the AndHealth team noted an increase in their temperature by 3 degrees along with a drop in HRV and an increase in respiratory rate and heart rate.

Figure X: Patient A – Heart rate variability, resting heart rate, temperature deviation and respiratory rate for patient experiencing GI distress due to COVID infection.

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The Heads Up platform flagged these abnormal readings enabling AndHealth providers to reach out with corrective action.

AndHealth encouraged the patient to get tested for Covid which can present with GI symptoms. The patient ended up testing positive and once their illness resolved they were able to maintain the supplement protocol without side effects.

Patient education

Patient B is a 55 year-old male engineer with significant family stressors. He has a “Type A” personality and manages stress with intense exercise. He regularly goes on long bike rides (16-30 miles) where he also incorporates high intensity sprints.

In this example, he went on three 30 mile bike rides with sprints. After the first bike ride, his HRV dropped and he started experiencing joint pain. By the third day he had to go on prednisone due to a flare of rheumatoid arthritis.

Figure <y>: Patient B – Decrease in heart rate variability due to overtraining correlating with physical symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

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Exercise in autoimmune patients is important and has been shown to improve depression and anxiety, improve fatigue and increase endorphin production to improve pain.

However, excess exercise can lead to microtrauma and trigger an autoimmune flare[1].  Finding the right balance of exercise for these patients is an important part of the treatment plan.

In this one instance, AndHealth was able to show the patient a graphical example of how excessive physical training was lowering his HRV and ultimately leading to an auto-immune flare.

Being an engineer, this patient was very interested in tracking and learning about his Oura data.  He was educated about HRV and now if he sees a drop in HRV after intense exercise, he modifies his workout to focus on activities that are more restorative. He’s had no further flares of his Rheumatoid arthritis.

Summary

AndHealth has created an innovative approach to the management and treatment of autoimmune conditions built on Oura Ring and the Heads Up platform.

The program integrates data from wearables like the Oura Ring and with conventional laboratory testing with a functional medicine approach to treatment.

AndHealth can help patients target the lifestyle behaviors that most impact the severity of their condition and reduce the use of conventional biologics for symptom management.

As a result, AndHealth has shown clinical data that support their protocol, increased patient engagement and satisfaction with the program and increased success for their patients and multidisciplinary team.

Interested in a similar solution for your practice?

Schedule a session with one of our specialists to demo and learn how to integrate Heads Up into your organization.

Mode+Method Validated New HRV+ Supplement

Mode+Method Validated New HRV+ Supplement

Supplement Brand Validates New HRV+ Supplement Using Decentralized Digital Health Monitoring Technology That Automatically Collects Sleep & Behavioral Data Through Wearables & Assessments.

Decentralized Health Research Platform

Introduction:

Mode+Method is looking to validate a new product in the supplement space aimed at increasing a customer’s HRV with a goal of rapidly scaling sales this calendar year.

Business Challenges 

Mode+Method primary challenges were finding users to test the product, the cost of collecting, managing, and analyzing health data, finding the right partner(s), with a flexible platform. Lastly, Mode+Method did not want to be limited into taking a rigid data collection and development environment.

The end result Mode+Method aimed for:

Mode+Method needed a device-agnostic flexible software solution that could automatically capture the health data they needed while also being able to analyze it in near real-time with ease. The goal was to produce health data that can be used to build trust by making objective claims in their sales and marketing materials. 

In the future, Mode+Method wanted a model that could be replicated for discovering product opportunities and validating new products that they develop. 

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We used the Heads Up platform to validate our new product targeting nocturnal Heart Rateto aggregate the study data from multiple wearable systems. The platform seamlessly ingested HRV and sleep data from Oura ring & other wearables, and the reporting tools made outcomes analysis a breeze.”

Don Moxley – Director Of Applied Sciences @ Longevity Labs (Mode+Method)

About The Industry 

The supplement industry is one of the most competitive and fastest growing industries in the United States. There are over 29,000 dietary supplements available in the U.S. market, with approximately 1,000 new supplement products being introduced to the market every year. 

Despite being such a large market, with an estimated 77% of Americans taking at least one supplement, 59% of global consumers want to see scientific evidence supporting supplement efficacy. Many factors play into this, such as legislation that limits the regulation of most dietary supplements, the presence of “snake oil” supplement brands that devalue the reputation of other brands, and limited research on the effectiveness of supplements.

The scientific awareness of the consumer has evolved post-COVID, partially thanks to new interest in longevity and immunity enhancement. Consumers are no longer only swayed by marketing techniques and older research on individual ingredients, consumers want evidence that the “specialty blends’ developed by supplement manufacturers work as advertised. 

For companies to succeed in this evolving market, validating their products and services with decentralized trials will be necessary to build trust with consumers’ purchasing decisions, answering the consumer’s authentic question of, “will this work for me?”

About HRV+

Longevity Labs, Inc, the parent company for Mode+Method, is a health and wellness research company specializing in longevity and human aging. They developed the supplement product HRV+ and designed it to optimize performance and boost Heart Rate Variability (HRV), a health marker associated with reduced morbidity and mortality. 

HRV+’s active ingredients include cannabinoids extracted from a proprietary hemp oil, curcumin, magnesium, and omega-3 oil. 

Business Challenges:

Since Mode+Method is a new supplement company, and they have aspirations to rapidly grow their new product (HRV+) in 2023. They needed a flexible research solution that is cost effective and quick to set up so that they could receive results back quickly. 

Mode+Method is focused on producing high quality supplements, and does not have the infrastructure to validate the product with an in-house technology solution. The complexity of organizing the study, obtaining participants, onboarding them, collecting the data and analyzing it needed to be achieved quickly, with help from a partner.  

Therefore, Mode+Method searched for a: 

  • Trusted partner who was well-connected to the wellness and supplement industry, and had experience in consumer health data analysis, all while providing top notch user service.
  • Research process that was simplistic both internally and for the participants.
  • Flexibility to try new ideas and possibly test new products easily.
  • Support with participant recruitment and onboarding.
  • Single platform that could accurately track biometric data from various inputs that could be easily analyzed at both an individual and cohort level.

Solution:

Heads Up Health worked with Mode+Method to create a solution that supported their research goals to validate their product (HRV+) and differentiate themselves in the supplement industry.

Collaboration & Support

  • Process Driven: Together, Mode+Method and Heads Up created a highly collaborative and process-driven study startup based on Heads Up’s experience. 
  • Accessible: Heads Up works closely with clients to provide an optimal research study experience. For this project, the Mode+Method team and HeadsUp met weekly during the first 4 weeks of their collaboration,
  • Top-Notch Customer Support: Heads Up provided consistent customer support, not just through study start, but throughout the duration of the collaboration to ensure a smooth user experience.

Speed: Up and running in weeks

  • The traditional research recruitment process can be tedious and it can take months for companies to get meaningful sample sizes of participants to validate supplement claims.
  • Heads Up’s team simplified the process for Mode+Method by developing a recruitment plan, creating a participant onboarding experience, streamlining the consent process, and creating a customized dashboard experience for data input and collection. Together, these solutions reduced the recruitment time so that the study could be up and running in weeks.

Turnkey experience for study subjects

  • Built into Heads Up’s system are safeguards against participant attrition, which can slow the speed of effective data collection. Heads Up is an easy to use platform, with both customizable and intuitive-to-use desktop/mobile interfaces for participants.
  • The system allows for low-burden data collection in the form of automated data collection. Heads Up also provides participants with a step-by-step guide concerning expectations and tasks required to be a part of the study. 

Automation & Data Visibility

  • Heads Up’s platform is an integrative technology built around continuous remote monitoring, and supports passive data collection from multiple wearable devices and apps all in one place. In addition to other collected biometric data, Oura Ring wearables were used in the study to accurately measure HRV and other health metrics.
  • Our platform can easily generate individual reports to hone in on the effects of the supplement on a person-to-person basis, but that’s not all.
  • Heads Up supports automated cohort analysis to ensure adherence to the protocol, help companies review macro trends across the subject population, and get real-time readings on how performance is trending – all at the click of a button. 

Tools In Action:

White-labeled web and mobile app to have unified branding.

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Participant Signup

Custom signup page to promote customer trust.

Custom Video Introduction

Welcome video introduction to build a rapport with the participant and educate them on what to expect.

Participant Walkthrough

Click-by-click platform walkthrough for each participant to ensure they understand the expectations and how to use the platform.

Easy click-button consent process to simplify the onboarding experience. 

Automated Data Collection

Automatically collected data from wearable devices like Oura that can be set up in seconds.

Assessment Feature

Collect pre and post-subjective data from participants.

Customized Dashboards

Only show relevant metrics to participants. 

Signals reports

Automated cohort analysis for quick decision-making and visibility
(ex: out of range tracker, performance snapshots)

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Results 

18 individuals were included in the initial cohort of the study.13 men, 5 women. The age range is from
28 to 70, average age=58.

  • Average baseline HRV score= 37.3ms RMSSD. Average score following protocol = 41msRMSSD. With average improvement of 13.24%. Results included individual improvement of 27.8%, 21.9%,17.4%, and 12.8%.
  • Average baseline AM readiness score= 78.7. Average AM readiness following protocol= 79.62 for an improvement of 1.1%. Individual improvements included 12.1% and 5.1%.
  • Average baseline sleep score 80.98. Average sleep score after protocol=82.81 for an increase of 2.3%. Individual improvements included improvements of 11.0 and 6.3%.
  • Average baseline for WHO (World Health Organization) well being survey prior to protocol=15.84. Average WHO Wellbeing score following protocol = 18.75 for an improvement of 18.4%.
  • All participants reported an improvement with individual improvements of 43%, 60% and 88%
HRV results 1

Takeaways 

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The Heads Up platform is the perfect solution for data-driven supplement companies who want to validate their supplement’s outcomes using near real-time tracking tools that quickly and easily quantify changes to users’ health data from an individual to the cohort level. If you are looking for software and support validating your supplement or health solution, schedule a discovery call with our support team and we’ll be happy to help you.

Are you looking to validate your health product?


Schedule a call with our Trials Specialist to find out how our program can work for you. 

Ciba Health: Remote Patient Monitoring for Type 2 Diabetes with Freestyle Libre, Withings and Oura Ring

Ciba Health: Remote Patient Monitoring for Type 2 Diabetes with Freestyle Libre, Withings and Oura Ring

Powerful Life-Saving Prevention Technology

Introduction

Ciba Health is a tech-forward virtual chronic disease reversal platform successfully leveraging Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) for their Type 2 Diabetes Reversal program.

Ciba’s RPM program leverages cutting-edge digital health devices including the Freestyle Libre Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), Oura ring, Withings scale, and Withings blood pressure cuff for a complete connected care solution.

The Ciba RPM program leverages a multidisciplinary team of physicians, dietitians, and health coaches for patient engagement, goal setting, lifestyle modification, and running the day-to-day operations of the RPM program.

The RPM program has created new revenue opportunities for Ciba Health inside the payer system, delivered quantified improvements in patient outcomes, and has positioned Ciba Health as a category-leading integrative practice with sophisticated RPM capabilities.

Ciba has selected Heads Up as the software platform for their RPM program. The Heads Up dashboard integrates seamlessly into the Ciba Health EHR system to facilitate data aggregation, analysis, alerting, reporting, RPM billing, and much more.

About Ciba Health

Ciba Health was founded in late 2019 by Dr. Innocent Clement, a trained physician, and former CEO and Co-Founder of Kaia Health Inc., a digital therapeutic company. The formation of Ciba Health was a response to the pitfalls of the conventional medical model, and an understanding that holistic, patient-centric care was essential for patient health.

Ciba Health is powered by the mission to provide better healthcare by researching the unique biochemistry of every patient, offering tools to practice better self-care, preventing diseases, and encouraging people to live their life to their fullest. Personalize, prevent, and educate—that’s the Ciba Health motto for creating healthcare that truly cares.

Ciba offers programs in Advanced Primary Care, Type 2 Diabetes Reversal and Depression & Anxiety Breakthrough and Digestive Health

Remote Patient Monitoring Overview

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is a system in which digital technologies are used to monitor and capture physiological data from patients at home. The data is monitored and reviewed by healthcare providers for personalized patient care.

Clinics and providers that use RPM can bill and submit claims for RPM services to healthcare payer systems through the use of CPT codes.

These codes assist in healthcare documentation and can be used for processing claims and billing, reporting medical procedures and services, and evaluating the utilization of healthcare services.

The primary CPT codes used for Remote Patient Monitoring include the following:

  • CPT Code 99453: the initial patient education on the medical device and training on the proper use
  • CPT Code 99454: the monthly remote monitoring of physiological parameters by wearable devices, includes provision and programming of device
  • CPT Code 99457: monthly billing for care management and coordination, requiring 20 minutes of interactive virtual care
  • CPT Code 99458: billing for additional time spent with the patient beyond the initial 20 minutes, billed in 20-minute increments

Business Challenges

Heads Up worked with Ciba Health to create a Remote Patient Monitoring platform to address their unique challenges:

  • Device data fragmentation
    • The Ciba RPM program leverages best-in-class devices (Libre, Oura, and Withings). Ciba Health needed a solution to seamlessly integrate data from multiple devices onto centralized dashboards for both patients and providers.
  • Diagnostic lab testing
    • In addition to integrating device data, Ciba Health needed an RPM platform that could also track lab tests including lipid panels, metabolic markers (Hba1c), functional diagnostic testing (Great Plains, Dutch, etc.), and much more.
  • EHR integration & white-label ready
    • Ciba Health needed an RPM solution that could integrate directly with their EHR system to simplify the user experience for both patients and providers. As part of the integrated solution, Ciba wanted to use their own branding on the patient-facing dashboard.
  • Advanced analytics
    • Ciba Health needed a platform with the analytics capabilities for their data science team to measure outcomes across their entire Type 2 Diabetes Reversal program.
  • Patient engagement
    • Ciba Health leverages FMCA health coaches for patient engagement. They needed an RPM platform that could integrate health coaching with biometric data from the devices as part of their RPM patient engagement strategy.
  • Lifestyle medicine
    • Ciba Health needed an RPM solution that would enable monitoring lifestyle factors including diet, sleep, stress, and exercise. Visibility into these lifestyle factors is a key part of Ciba’s holistic approach to Type 2 Diabetes Management.
  • Increase revenue
    • Ciba Health was seeking to explore revenue opportunities that rely on tracking RPM billing eligibility for each CPT code and export data in a customized format for their billing team.

Technology Solution

Heads Up was selected as the technology vendor to meet both Ciba Health’s business and practice needs for their RPM solution.

Customized Dashboards

Heads Up created a dashboard to integrate all of the devices and data required for the RPM program. Libre, Withings, and Oura all seamlessly integrate into a single view for patients and providers.

Open Client Dashboard Chiba@2x

Integrated Lab Testing

Ciba Health uses a combination of conventional lab testing (Hba1c, lipid panels etc.) and functional diagnostic testing. The RPM portal was also configured with the ability to track diagnostic lab testing alongside the device data.

EHR Integration

The dashboard was directly embedded into the Ciba Health EHR system and uses single-sign-on (SSO) for a seamless user experience.Screenshot 2021 03 15 at 19.20.47

Advanced Analytics

Customized data exports are delivered each month to the Ciba data science team. Outcomes can be analyzed across the entire patient base. As the data set grows, Ciba can start to apply machine learning and AI to learn more about how their programs are performing.

Customized Billing Reports

Customized reports are delivered to Ciba throughout each calendar month. These reports help determine where there are clinically relevant RPM related billing opportunities each month.

RPM Ciba 1

Train Health Coaches

Consistent with their high standards as a virtual functional medicine practice, Ciba Health hired health coaches certified by the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy (FMCA). 

The FCMA health coaching program is considered a gold standard in functional medicine, and is the only program designed and delivered in collaboration with the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM).

These coaches were then trained through the Heads Up University RPM Certification Course for health coaches. This program consists of seven video modules and additional resources that cover how to get started with RPM, coding and billing, medical protocols, and legal considerations for RPM.

As a result of this training, the Ciba Health coaches are better equipped to manage the day-to-day of the RPM programs and can use the incoming data as opportunities to check-in with patients.

Business Outcomes

Using the remote monitoring solution created by Heads Up, Ciba Health was able to achieve the following outcomes.

Increased Revenue

Ciba Health has enrolled in the payer system and is now generating claims revenue for their RPM services. With a proven RPM solution in place, Ciba Health is preparing to scale their RPM revenue as they bring on new clients.

Improved Outcomes

Using the data generated from their RPM program, Ciba Health is able to quantify outcomes both at the individual level and at the cohort level to validate their program’s efficacy. 

These outcomes are published on their website and used in other outbound communications.

 

Testimonials From Patients About Ciba’s Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Program

“Last A1C check was 5.3, a non diabetic level. The lowest it’s been in 3 years!”

Natasha

“Sleeping more. Comfortable working with coach. A great experience!”

Aaron

“The most exciting thing over time was my bloodwork. My A1C was down to 5.3. That was a huge confirmation!”

Dwight

 “My health coach is excellent. Very supportive. A delight to work with. This is better than going to a traditional medicine doctor.”

Bernadette

Increased engagement

Instead of waiting several months between doctor visits and conventional lab test results, Ciba health coaches and providers can use patient-generated data for real-time biofeedback.

Data from the devices creates new opportunities for Ciba Health coaches to engage patients and guide them toward health lifestyle modification.

Additionally, patients learn to use the data from the devices themselves to make healthy corrections to diet and lifestyle.

Summary

Ciba Health has developed an industry-leading Remote Patient Monitoring program for Type 2 Diabetes built on the Heads Up connected care platform.

The program integrates the latest digital health devices from Oura, Abbott (Freestyle Libre) and Withings combined with diagnostic lab testing.

FMCA-certified health coaches are trained to manage the RPM program and integrate biometric data into patient coaching.

Ciba Health is leveraging objective clinical and lifestyle data to study outcomes as their programs scales.

Lastly, new revenue streams are now available to Ciba as Remote Patient Monitoring continues to expand.

Interested in exploring a custom-built program for your practice?

 

GladdMD Provides Remote Ketogenic Coaching with Heads Up and Keto-Mojo

GladdMD Provides Remote Ketogenic Coaching with Heads Up and Keto-Mojo

About GladdMD

GladdMD is an Indiana-based integrative practice that sees clients both in-person and remotely from all over the world. They rely heavily on their relationships with patients and aim to partner with them on their journey to optimal health.

GladdMD was founded in 2010 and is headed up by Dr. Jeff Gladd, a physician entrepreneur and sought-after expert who turned to integrative medicine after his own health journey and education through the University of Arizona Integrative Medicine fellowship. GladdMD provides a holistic approach to patient health blending conventional and functional approaches with a customized diet, nutrition, and lifestyle interventions.

Business challenges

GladdMD runs a number of different health optimization programs with their clients. These programs are offered virtually with one-on-one consultations and group visits. 

By adding a remote monitoring component to their ketogenic weight loss program, GladdMD was seeking to address a number of challenges:

  • Without an easy way to monitor glucose and ketone readings on a daily basis, it was difficult for GladdMD clients to objectively verify if clients were in ketosis.
  • With no solution for remote data collection, it was challenging for GladdMD to personalize the program for each client. 
  • Without a centralized dashboard, tracking weight loss outcomes at the individual and cohort level was challenging and relied on self-reports from users, spreadsheets and other cumbersome tools.
  • For clients who have out-of-network health insurance coverage, providing super bills for reimbursement would allow GladdMD to help clients offset the cost of the program and scale the program to more clients
Dashboard Gladd@1x

Technology solution: Heads Up & Keto-Mojo

The goal for Heads Up was to create a technology solution for GladdMD to support their unique needs. Heads Up created a custom, centralized dashboard to improve quality of client data tracking and health program personalization.

In addition to this, Keto Mojo, the glucose and ketone meter used by GladdMD for their ketogenic weight loss program is able to be easily integrated into the Heads Up software.

  • Remote Patient Monitoring Solution
    • One of the main challenges that GladdMD faced in their ketogenic weight loss program was accurate and easy monitoring of glucose and ketone readings for their clients.
    • Using Heads Up’s wearable integration technology, GladdMD can easily access daily readings from the Keto Mojo wearable, verify the state of ketosis, and improve the efficiency of program personalization.
  • Additional Lifestyle Data from Other Wearables
    • Heads Up technology allows for data integration from a number of premium digital health devices and apps. This added value to coaching sessions and doctor’s visits by allowing providers to see additional data on physical activity, sleep, and nutrition. 
    • In turn, GladdMD providers are able to better gauge client motivation for change, target lifestyle areas for improvement, and help clients understand physiological responses beyond weight loss.
  • Client Dashboard Customization
    • Heads Up built a custom client dashboard for GladdMD’s ketogenic weight loss program. This led to increased client motivation and empowerment due to patients being able to see real-time results from following the program.
    • To improve brand recognition, Heads Up created a custom dashboard with GladdMD branding.
  • Health Coach Dashboard
    • The health coach dashboard built by Heads Up improved the efficiency of monitoring client data remotely. Because all of the client data is centralized, providers are able to spend more time clients focusing on interventions instead of data review.
  • Patient Engagement Tools
    • Heads Up provides several tools to improve communication and tracking of client outcomes. GladdMD utilizes the platform’s HIPAA-compliant secure messaging, monthly progress reports and other tools for increased patient engagement and retention.
  • Super bill for clients who can submit for out-of-network coverage.

Leveraging a Health Coach for Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

Combining a health coach with RPM is a powerful combination. Health coaches are trained experts in patient engagement and the data from remote devices provides abundant opportunity for coaches to engage, educate and empower clients on their journey to optimal health. 

The health coach at GladdMD, Marina Arambula, runs the ketogenic therapy program on a day-to-day basis. Marina works with clients remotely to onboard them onto the Heads Up platform, connect their Keto-Mojo device and educate clients on how to start measuring glucose and ketones daily.

Clients Gladd@1x

“Using the Heads Up dashboard has been transformational for my coaching. With these additional tools, I have been able to help clients understand the importance of metabolic health and approach being healthy in a holistic manner.”

– Marina, GladdMD Health Coach

Business Outcomes

Using the remote monitoring solution with Heads Up and Keto-Mojo, GladdMD was able to achieve the following outcomes:

  • Increased efficiency for the practitioner
    • Heads Up technology is able to centralize data collection and create reports to track client outcomes. Use of these tools has improved GladdMD’s data organization and allowed more targeted interventions to shorten time frames for client outcomes.
    • Health coach is able to communicate more frequently with doctors about client updates, which reduces time spent on reviewing client histor

  • Increased patient engagement and retentions
    • Through the Heads Up platform, GladdMD health coaches have increased communication with clients. These clients develop a deeper relationship with the practice not only with communication with providers, but by seeing visualized data of program progress and success. These features have improved client retention.
  • Increased revenue for the practice
    • GladdMD is able to reduce program costs through increased efficiency of data collection and interpretation by providers.
    • Clients using the dashboard created by Heads Up were able to see reports and visualization of health outcome progress, which led to additional services, increased follow ups
    • Improved client retention and faster program outcomes increases client trust in GladdMD services. Clients increase new client acquisition by organic word-of-mouth about their successes with GladdMD’s health optimization programs.

Clients who have been long-term users of GladdMD services have also seen benefits from the remote patient monitoring made possible by Heads Up technology.

One client thought that, prior to using the Heads Up platform, she was following the protocol for GladdMD’s ketogenic weight-loss program. She had some success with weight loss, but her health was not being optimized.

After adding Heads Up to her care, the health coach and client were able to see objective data showing that the patient was not following protocols as well as she originally thought. With the help of the health coach and ongoing data monitoring, the client was able to course-correct her actions and have significant improvements in weight loss.

Conclusion

GladdMD is an integrative practice dedicated to helping patients achieve optimal health through nutrition and lifestyle interventions. Heads Up helped bring remote patient monitoring in GladdMD’s ketogenic weight loss program to life. 

To address their issues of centralized data collection, easy client health outcome tracking, and daily lab monitoring, Heads Up created a seamless user experience for both clients and practitioners.

As a result, GladdMD experienced increased practitioner efficiency, increases in client engagement and retention, and overall increased practice revenue. Health coaches and practitioners with GladdMD are able to focus on tailoring program interventions to client needs, improve consistency of ketosis, and developing relationships with their clients.

Heads Up technology increases success for both practitioners and clients in healthcare delivery systems that use remote patient monitoring. 

Interested in a custom data portal for your practice?

Schedule a session with one of our specialists to learn how to integrate Heads Up Health into your organization and demo the Heads Up platform.