Dialysis Companion

Oak Grove teamed with ModoLabs to develop Dialysis Companion, a prototype mobile application that allows patients to make the best decisions about dialysis treatment based on factors such as quality measures, location, transportation options, and user-generated ratings. We developed this application in response to the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge: “Consumer Apps to Visualize Health Care Quality Measures.” The aim of this competition was to develop a visually interesting and useful prototype app that pulled from at least one Medicare dataset.

CHALLENGE:

We had approximately 20 days to develop a relevant, useful, and working mobile application based on a Medicare dataset.

SOLUTION:

We performed an abbreviated requirements gathering analysis that resulted in a tailored feature set and use cases for the application. Features and use cases for the application include:

  • Identification of all dialysis facilities within a certain distance from patient homes.
  • Comparison of publicly available key quality measures for each facility.
  • Filtering of facilities displayed based on services offered (e.g. in-center peritoneal dialysis, in-center hemodialysis).
  • Rating of dialysis facilities in categories such as chair comfort, televisions, cleanliness, and staff helpfulness.
  • Storage of information in a treatment log about patient experiences in the dialysis center.

(Note: Dialysis Companion works best on an iPhone or iPodTouch.)

CLIENT:

Health 2.0 Developer Challenge

MARKET:

International Services

NATURE OF WORK:

Mobile Application

RESULTS:

Dialysis Companion showcases a powerful feature that allows users to repeatedly rate dialysis centers and thus provide direct feedback about the centers to the entire dialysis community. In this way, users of Dialysis Companion are consistently expanding and improving the available information about clinics and facilities around the country. Dialysis Companion creates a positive feedback loop for the community, first allowing patients to make informed decisions about their care, and then offering them a channel to offer feedback to others looking to make similar choices.