Non-adherence to drug therapy is still a problem with serious repercussions, estimated to cause about 125,000 deaths annually in the US and costs to the health system in the order of 290 billion dollars. But don’t worry Americans, Line Health is on the way!

Line Health (previously known as PharmAssistant), who created a patented smart pill dispenser to help chronic patients manage their diseases, is now heading to the US. After participating in Grants4Apps, an acceleration program by Bayer Healthcare, they secured partnerships in America to test and launch their product. This first pilot starts early next year with a major hospital, part of the largest American network of private hospitals.

The pilot’s goal is to reduce 30-days readmissions for patients who had a stroke or T.I.A., so they can better manage their discharge instructions, like taking preventive medication or tracking their vital signs.

According to Diogo Ortega, Co-founder and CEO at Line Health,  

The Accountable Care Act (ACA), known as Obamacare, brought a huge change to the healthcare system, putting pressure in all stakeholders. Now, the providers, like hospitals, have two top priorities: increase patient satisfaction and save costs. And there’s only one way to do that: through increasing patient engagement.

And that’s a wonderful opportunity for Line Health: “providers are now investing in empowering patients with tools so that they can better follow their doctor’s prescriptions: such as taking medication, tracking their blood pressure or even taking a walk everyday”.

Good bye to PharmAssistant

Thanks to several brainstorming sessions, the team realized that their mission was ultimately to help the patient to keep his health “in line”, and that’s how the name Line Health was born.

As we started this iteration process, we realized that we were no longer focused solely on “Pharmaceuticals” and providing “Assistance”, so our name was no longer up to the challenge.

Supporting chronic patients managing their medication was just the first step. Line Health’s vision is to provide a solution to manage all aspects of a patient’s health. That’s why they built a new app: The solution (that combines the app and the smart pill dispenser) is a co-creation between Line’s team and more than 200 chronic patients, that gave their contribution by explaining their challenges and strategies to manage their health.