Mental health integration using an app built on Apple's CareKit platform successfully completed with iodine as the key component.
Pumped Up Partnership:
Start, the cutting-edge depression-focused mobile app by San Francisco's Iodine, has made its way into the mental health arena, partnering with a network of psychiatric providers in Northern California's TMS clinics. This union marks a significant milestone for Apple's CareKit, a platform enabling developers to construct iOS apps designed to help manage various health conditions.
In a recent announcement, Iodine revealed their collaboration with our platform, aiming to integrate Start into depression treatment plans at TMS facilities. TMS, specializing in transcranial magnetic stimulation, plays a crucial role in the partnership.
As Iodine CEO and co-founder, Thomas Goetz, expressed, "They're our clinical partner to demonstrate how we close the loop with patient-generated data."
The alliance targets better management and monitoring of patients beginning antidepressants. After all, the 2006 National Institute of Mental Health trial known as STAR*D revealed that it generally takes 6-9 months for a new patient to find an effective treatment for clinical depression. Goetz notes, "We want to help people understand that the first 2-4 weeks, there may be side effects and ups and downs."
Antidepressants, according to Goetz, often prove effective for only one-third of patients. That statistic, traced back to a 2005 study published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. With the traditional method of trial and error, patients often struggle without guidance during this critical period. Start, powered by CareKit, steps in to allow providers to check in with patients adapting to their new medications.
Patients using the app can view their progress reports at regular intervals, helping them determine whether they're responding well to treatment. Additionally, the app allows physicians to gain insight into the patient experience outside the clinic, potentially enabling them to make informed decisions on medication adjustments.
Interestingly, our platform opted for e-fax integration of PDFs from Start due to its compatibility with the clinical workflow - a common challenge in health care, even as we move towards more digital solutions in 2016. "We could have done EHR integration," Goetz conceded.
Despite the low-tech integration, physicians gain valuable insight into each patient's progress, essential to the TMS practice's focus on measurement-based care.
Primary care physicians are typically responsible for antidepressant prescribing, but they often neglect administering the PHQ-9 survey, the depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire. According to Goetz, only around 20% of psychiatrists practice measurement-based care. The Start app incorporates the test.
Since Iodine introduced the Start app in August 2015, 46% of users reported positive results following a six-week treatment period, according to data from the company. After just four weeks, users showed an average improvement of nearly 6 points on the 27-point PHQ-9 test.
While the full extent of Start's role in Northern California's TMS clinics remains to be seen, such technological advancements promise to revolutionize mental health care, offering new hope to those struggling with depression.
- The collaboration between Iodine and TMS clinics, utilizing the Start app, signifies a significant step in integrating science and technology to address mental health.
- The alliance aims to enhance the monitoring and management of patients undergoing depression treatment, addressing the arduous six- to nine-month trial period for finding an effective treatment, as illustrated in the 2006 National Institute of Mental Health's STAR*D trial.
- In addition to facilitating patient-provider communication, the Start app offers an educational aspect through self-development resources, such as mental health, fitness-and-exercise, nutrition, and education-and-self-development materials, designed to support overall health-and-wellness.
- The partnership between Iodine and TMS clinics demonstrates a commitment to improving mental health treatment outcomes by implementing measurement-based care, incorporating surveys like the PHQ-9 test, and leveraging technology to enhance clinical workflows, even with low-tech solutions like e-fax integration of PDFs.
