California-based technology-enabled service company FirstVitals Health and Wellness has received a non-invasive technology, designed for diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy, from NeuroMetrix to supplement its Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) Grant project in Hawaii, US.
The technology, NC-stat DPNCheck, is a point-of-care test, which can be performed in less than a minute and results are provided immediately.
FirstVitals said CMMI Grant project, which will be conducted in partnership with Hawaii’s largest safety-net health plan AlohaCare, is designed around the use of Bluetooth-enabled blood glucose meters, internet-connected tablets and proprietary home-based imaging and sensing devices to track key clinical information.
The projects’ objective is to identify diabetes patients who are at elevated risk for neuropathy and foot disease via medical claims data supplied by the health plan, and through screening all diabetic AlohaCare members with the DPNCheck device for neuropathy.
FirstVitals co-founder and chief medical officer David Goodman said the non-invasive technology will allow us to easily risk-adjust patients based on the presence of neuropathy, a key biomarker in the progression of diabetic complications and costs of care.
"It may also allow us to identify patients with early neuropathy before they develop clinical numbness, potentially providing an opportunity to slow the progression of neuropathy through more aggressive lifestyle interventions," Goodman added.