"The Blues system encapsulates the sensor data portion of our hardware product all the way through to our cloud. By offloading the complexity of moving sensor data over cellular networks, we get to market faster and there is less that can go wrong."
Francois Koutchouk
CTO
Evexia Telehealth
Overview
When you think of the Caribbean, you probably picture a relaxed tropical paradise with creamy-white beaches and lush vegetation - a vacationer’s dream. But the unparalleled natural beauty tells only half the story of these US Territories. The other half is told by the deep rates of poverty and high rates of chronic health conditions that make Caribbean residents some of our most vulnerable populations.
Reynaldo Mirault on Unsplash
Even in inner cities, patients lack regular health monitoring, making telehealth the best way for providers to deliver care. But that requires internet and infrastructure and technological literacy that’s not available to those living in poverty in the Caribbean. Evexia Telehealth powered by Blues is expanding access to care in the Caribbean by delivering remote healthcare monitoring for underserved patients living with chronic diseases.
No Patient Left Behind
Half of the population of the US Territories in the Caribbean lives with chronic disease like diabetes, hypertension, or COPD.
Population statistics of residents in the Caribbean:
With a lack of access to regular healthcare, patients often end up in the emergency room or urgent care centers for preventable issues. Telehealth has become ubiquitous during the pandemic to solve emergency room overcrowding, but it requires patients to have continuous power, reliable internet access and the technical skills to use a smartphone or computer. In the underserved communities of the Caribbean, those resources just aren’t available. Evexia Telehealth is focused on making remote patient monitoring accessible to patients left behind by today’s telehealth innovation with a simple end-to-end solution, the Evexia Gateway.
Reducing the Cost of Support
Before finding Blues, Evexia Telehealth searched for solutions for almost 5 years, running into roadblocks including adequate coverage and data plans. To ensure the reliability of the Notecard to pick up a cellular signal, Evexia Telehealth field tested the Blues Notecard for 6 months in different geographical areas around the Caribbean, and The Notecard consistently delivered. Development capabilities were also a critical consideration for Evexia Telehealth. Their product relied upon knowing when something is going wrong with the Gateway, such as a patient’s vital sign data not going up to the portal or messages not coming down from the provider.
The cost of development support made the technology unattainable for patients and providers, until they started working with Blues. This is because the Blues Notecard is a complete software stack, meaning that from the hardware all the way to the cloud, it’s a single, high-level programming interface, making it easy to pinpoint issues. Providing that information on a single platform is critical for Evexia Telehealth because it allows them to focus on medical data as opposed to technical troubleshooting.
Engaging Patients for Improved Health Outcomes
The Evexia Gateway is in its most basic state, a box. There are no buttons, no keyboard, no technology for the patient to learn. It solves digital illiteracy issues by plugging into the wall and communicating with normal medical equipment like a thermometer, glucose monitor, oximeter, or blood pressure cuff. Simplifying the product also reduces cost, which allows for greater accessibility.
Better health compliance is proven to reduce treatment costs, so Evexia Telehealth developed the Gateway as a bidirectional device. It transmits data from patient equipment to the cloud, and keeps the patient engaged with their healthcare provider. Patients might receive a message on the Gateway reminding them to take their medication or a greeting saying, “Hey, Mr. Smith, how are you feeling today?”. The Gateway supports Spanish, French and English, and additional languages can be added or changed remotely, so whoever is using the device can communicate in their primary language.
How the process works for the patient:
Their medical provider provides an initial consultation to assign medical equipment and teach them how to use it.
They plug in the Evexia Gateway at home.
They use their medical device(s) normally.
Evexia Gateway delivers real time data to the healthcare portal, where providers have instant access.
By accessing the patient’s data in the cloud, a provider can monitor the patient’s health trends and potentially take action. They assign healthcare managers to make care recommendations, and the portal can call, set up a video consultation, or escalate it to an in-person visit. Everything done by the practice is HIPAA, Medicare and Medicaid compliant, so it is reimbursable and auditable.
"With the Evexia Gateway powered by Blues, not only are we improving health outcomes for patients, but we’re also improving financial viability for healthcare providers and insurers by eliminating the non-billable cost of supporting patients."
Francois Koutchouk
CTO
Evexia Telehealth
How to Learn More
Evexia Telehealth powered by Blues technology is bridging the digital divide and expanding access to care for underserved chronic disease patients in the Caribbean. The Evexia Gateway is built on the full software stack of the Blues Notecard to deliver upstream and downstream data, keeping patients connected and engaged with their providers using cellular connectivity. Bi-directional remote monitoring devices have a positive impact on the healthcare system in the Caribbean by improving treatment outcomes without patients having to leave their homes, have access to WiFi or learn new technology.
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