Numera Health (formerly iMetrikus) has considerably expanded its white label health and wellness offerings with the addition of a mobile personal emergency response system and a home telemedicine portal.
First the company announced the acquisition of BlueLibris, makers of the Libris body computing device which connects users via mobile cellular to a cloud-based personal health portal and transmits data including voice, activity and sensor data captured using Bluetooth and/or Bluetooth Low Energy.
“The market for telecare and telehealth is expected to grow from $1.1 Billion today to over $3 Billion by 2017,” said Tim Smokoff, CEO of Numera. “Often, a person will need telehealth-related services for general wellness or chronic condition management, and later have a need for the personal safety and immediate response offered by a telecare platform.
This acquisition makes it possible for Numera’s customers to have both, as they need them, on the same scalable platform.”
“As we continue development of the BlueLibris products, we will extend the capabilities of the device with additional, innovative sensing capabilities to enrich activity monitoring and feedback for behavior change and lasting engagement for those living with chronic health conditions,” said Bill Reid, VP of Product Development at Numera.
“By combining the capabilities of BlueLibris with our existing family of PC, Smartphone, and home hub gateways and the Numera Social engagement platform, families, friends, and caregivers are equipped to participate in and deliver sustained engagement, which is critical for lasting behavior change.”
Numera followed up this big deal with the launch of the HealthPort, a home health portal similar to the Qualcomm 2Net device in functionality but much more interactive, including a built-in LCD for managing interaction with wireless medical devices.
The goal of the HealthPort is to transmit data from personal medical devices and wearable sensors through cellular networks, home broadband, digital or analogue phone lines to a patients care team without forcing upon them the complexity that comes along with needing a smartphone or computer. Obviously, the device is targeting the older patient demographic, specifically those who wish to maintain their independence despite suffering one or more chronic conditions.
Numera’s primary business to date has been providing its FDA-approved secure data collection portal and objective third-party health information to its third partners, including Healthrageous, WebMD and Epic Systems. Its hard not to be impressed by Numera’s efforts to expand their product offerings beyond these custom white label portals.
BlueLibris, besides being a very well designed product, was among the first mobile PERS devices to integrate Bluetooth 4.0 technology and is likely to put Numera on the map provided they are able to attract new distribution partners.
