Pfizer Teams Up to Offer Online Health Management
Pfizer Teams Up to Offer Online Health Management [The Day, New
London, Conn.]
From Day, The (New London, CT) (February 9, 2010)
Feb. 9--Drug giant Pfizer Inc. is teaming
up with San Francisco-based interactive-technology firm Keas Inc.
to introduce an online prevention and wellness program, the company
announced Monday.
Pfizer, which has major research-and-development sites in Groton
and New London, said the idea is for consumers to adopt
personalized online "care plans" to take charge of their own
health.
Some of the care plans are being authored by Pfizer itself,
according to Keas spokeswoman Mara Brazer. The New York-based
company is the only pharmaceutical firm to author plans so far,
Pfizer confirmed, though others might join down the road.
"By combining the recommendation of an individual's physician with
a personalized, expert-developed care plan to support day-to-day
health decisions, we believe patients will potentially experience
improved health outcomes," said Olivier Brandicourt, president and
general manager of Pfizer's primary care business unit, in a
statement.
Pfizer would not provide many specific details of the strategic
partnership with Keas, including any financial considerations
involved, saying the two companies are still working out the
details. Pfizer spokeswoman Samantha Cummis said details of how
physicians and insurance companies might interact with patients on
the site are still being worked out.
"Today no one helps you," Keas founder Adam Bosworth, former head
of Google Health, said in a blog about his business concept. "You
can't assemble your health data to get the best care possible. Even
if you can, your doctors rarely help because the system doesn't pay
them to keep you healthy. You don't have tools that work online to
help in these situations, partly because insurance doesn't pay for
them."
The online health-management system Bosworth has championed will
help patients to take on such challenges as weight loss, smoking
cessation and diabetes prevention with more knowledge and tools at
their disposal, he said.
The care-plan Web site at www.keas.com, which has been going
through beta testing since October, already has more than 10,000
members, Brazer said. Users currently can enter the site for free,
but there will be small charges for individualized care plans in
the future, she added.
Among the features of the Keas site, which Brazer called "very
secure and very private," is the ability for patients or their
family members to be reminded about taking their medications.
People who use the site, currently ranging in age from their 20s to
70s, can have their lab results analyzed, get suggestions for
making their weight-loss goals and receive encouragement as they
chart their progress in aiming for healthier lifestyles, she
added.
Care plans put together by Keas have mined the expertise of
doctors, pharmacists and nutritionists. Health experts from Dr.
Greene Pediatrics, DiabetesMine, HealthWise and CVS MinuteClinic
are contributors to various Care Plans.
Unlike other medical Web sites, Keas will filter online searches
depending on individual users' health status, Brazer said, making
the information more meaningful.
"This is a further testimony of Pfizer's commitment to remain the
partner of choice for entrepreneurs and innovators," said Kristin
Peck, Pfizer's senior vice president of Worldwide Strategy &
Innovation, in a statement. "It is about harnessing the power of
the best innovators across the world through new partnerships and
novel ecosystems."
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http://www.theday.com.
Copyright (c) 2010, The Day, New London, Conn.
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Posted: February 2010
