Now, those who are chronically ill have a place where they can vent their frustrations, talk to others who are sick, connect with friends and family and communicate with doctors outside of hospital walls. This place is Wellaho, an online network started by a San Diego-based company.
Made specifically for those with chronic illness, Wellaho offers a web portal for patients to connect with others suffering from the same illness as well as share their own stories and experiences. According to the company, patients who use Wellaho to gain support and advice stay motivated throughout their treatments.
Once a patient logs into the system, he has access to a dashboard that tracks his progress, statistics and goals. Here, the patient can also receive medical test results directly online, as well as set up email, text and call reminders for taking their medication or going to appointments.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Chronically Ill Online Communities
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing a personalized social media platform that connects chronically ill patients with others and tracks their progress, statistics, and goals.
- Patient Empowerment
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing a system that empowers patients by giving them access to their medical test results online and helps them stay motivated throughout their treatments.
- Remote Patient Monitoring
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing a technology that enables healthcare professionals to remotely monitor patients' medication adherence and appointment attendance.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Healthcare Information Technology
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing a healthcare information technology that allows providers to monitor patients' chronic conditions and provides patients with access to medical test results and personalized support.
- Social Media
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing a tailored social media platform that facilitates connections between users with similar health conditions and provides tools for tracking progress, statistics, and goals.
- Medical Devices and Diagnostics
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing medical devices and diagnostics that allow patients to monitor their health at home and transmit data to healthcare providers, enabling remote patient monitoring and personalized care.
