While cryptocurrencies, the best known of the bitcoin type, remain controversial, the technology that enables the existence of them isn’t. Newport Beach-based PatientDirected.io plans to leverage blockchain and “smart contracts to let patients share and monetize their healthcare data,” according to its website.
Blockchain is a decentralized ledger that allows transactions to happen across a peer-to-peer network without a central clearing authority. The open platform can be used to share information selectively and securely with others.
The startup said the platform is designed to facilitate data exchange and reduce consumer and healthcare system costs. Electronic patient medical records would be placed electronically into PatientDirected.io, and the patient and/or legal guardians and delegates would have full control of the data.
“Entities requesting access to a patient’s data will have … the option available for access and any token fees payable to the patient that are required,” wrote founder Dr. Thomas Giannulli in a company white paper. He said the economic incentive framework would drive patients to update and provide accurate and timely medical data.
The platform operator plans to take a 1% fee for each financial transaction.
It plans to raise money through a token sale or initial coin offering, according to the website.
Giannulli is chief medical information officer of medical office software and services platform Kareo in Irvine. He also co-founded patient rewards program Carepoynt in Newport Beach.
Patient Monitoring
Nihon Kohden Corp. launched the NKHiQ Wireless Patient Monitoring System, a continuous monitoring device that uses Wi-Fi to capture and manage patient data from admission to discharge. The suite includes a central station and bedside, transport and wearable patient monitors.
Dr. Wilson Constantine, chief executive of Irvine-based Nihon Kohden America, said the wireless device would keep “clinicians informed no matter patient acuity level or location in the hospital … to give clinicians the data they need at the point of care.”
The device is designed for security and interoperability. It keeps data protected by requiring authorized access to the system network, according to the company.
Nihon Kohden, founded in 1951 in Japan, manufactures and distributes medical equipment. Its subsidiaries are in the U.S., Europe and other locations in Asia.
Recruitment
StudyKIK, which uses social media to recruit patients for clinical trials, received an investment from Kinderhook Industries LLC in New York on undisclosed terms.
“We were focused on identifying a firm that could provide us with strategic resources … to rapidly grow our business,” said StudyKIK co-founder Matt Miller. The Costa Mesa-based patient recruitment firm has a database of over 2 million active patients from its social media communities.
Patient recruitment and retention is one of the biggest challenges in clinical trials; approximately 80% of trials fail to meet initial enrollment targets on time, and more than 45% are completed late, according to a report by consultant IQVIA.
Kinderhook manages over $2 billion in capital and is a licensed small-business investment company.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Kinderhook; Comerica Bank provided financing.
Bits & Pieces
HCR ManorCare, the second-largest U.S. nursing home operator, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this month with $7.1 billion in debt as part of a prearranged deal to transfer ownership to its landlord, Quality Care Properties Inc. in Wichita, Kansas. Irvine-based senior housing-focused real estate investment trust HCP Inc. spun out HCR, its portfolio of skilled nursing and assisted living assets, into Quality Care in 2016. … Aliso Viejo-based ConcertoHealth promoted Christopher Dodd to chief care transformation officer to develop differentiated treatment models for patients across a broad chronic-illness spectrum. Dodd joined Concerto in 2016 as regional medical director for the Washington state market. Concerto provides medical care and social services for frail elderly patients with complex medical conditions. It provides care in patients’ homes or at its care centers in Washington and Michigan. … Hoag Hospital Newport ranked in the top 1% of hospitals in Healthgrades’ America’s Best Hospitals Awards; 22 Californian hospitals were recognized as being in the top 2% in the U.S.
