Ampersand Health is launching a new dermatology app for patients, the latest in a series of disease-specific mobile apps aimed at prolonging periods of remission for a range of long-term inflammatory conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Inflammatory Arthritis.
The Ampersand Health platform supports hospitals to deliver safer, proactive and more personalised care to patients with chronic conditions. The remote monitoring platform is complemented by the apps, which encourage patients to self-manage their condition.
Ampersand Health’s clinician platform is able to alert healthcare professionals to patients who are at risk of a flare, as well as those who are not following their care plan treatment. This allows them to target care to patients based on need, and keep those who are well, out of hospital, increasing capacity.
The app-based behavioural therapeutics use behavioural and data science, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and act and commitment therapy (ACT) to help manage symptoms such as pain, fatigue, sleeplessness and anxiety that some patients experience.
The apps can also be used by patients to help manage their conditions, through the tracking of appointments and medications, as well as physiological, social and psychological status.
In addition, Ampersand Health has also created an out-of-app community for patients. This includes clinician- and expert-led monthly free webinars, as well as virtual social meetups with other people living with their condition.
Nader Alaghband, CEO and co-founder of Ampersand Health, said: “The unpredictable nature of diseases like Crohn’s, psoriasis and arthritis creates challenges for doctors, patients and circles of care around them.
“By predicting flare earlier and introducing personalised behavioural interventions earlier, we can flatten the relapse/remission cycle and so help patients live happier, healthier and more empowered lives. The by-product – more efficient allocation of scarce clinical resources – is especially relevant as health systems seek to bounce back from the pandemic.”
Ampersand Health is gearing up for its Series A raise later this year, following which they intend to launch in the US market and invest in research and development to catalyse its work on flare prediction.
The company was part of the 4th DigitalHealth.London’s accelerator programme, which recently opened applications for its seventh programme.
