Preventive approach to preserve competencies. BIOT digital service at Telemedforum 2022

The experts of the ITPS Group presented BIOT (digital service for remote health monitoring and early detection of diseases) at the Telemedforum 2022 – the 7th Industry Forum on Telemedicine, digitalization of healthcare and investments in healthcare which took place on December 2, 2022, in Skolkovo Technopark, Moscow). This year, in addition to traditional topics (state-of-the-art technologies, implementation examples, legal aspects, et al.), the forum participants also dwelled upon personal medical assistants, the role of digital technologies in research, data security, and other pressing topics.

One of the round tables at the forum was devoted to the issues of corporate healthcare. The participants were chief physicians, heads of medical units and medical centers, and specialists in the field of insurance. Head of the ITPS Digital Solutions Center, Dmitrii Tachkin, paid utmost attention to the fact that the critical goal of corporate healthcare was not only to ensure the actual health status of the employees' but also to create conditions for working longevity, prolonging the active working age, long-term preservation of competencies. Preservation of health may become crucial in large high-tech industries, where the diseases of employees with unique skills and functions (often people over 45 years of age) may cause downtime and losses.

"The absence of an employee at the workplace entails a shutdown of work processes, production, and financial risks. Most often, the causes of diseases affecting professional activity are formed outside of production: this is the result of an incorrect lifestyle, an unbalanced diet, stress, and lack of rest, etc. Health, vigorous activity, and prolonged longevity result from preventive risk management and adjustment of lifestyle habits. Thus it is essential to involve people in the care of their health. The approaches embedded in the BIOT solution make it possible to solve this issue by creating a unified system, consisting of an employee and a corporate physician, and analytical data based on continuous monitoring of health indicators," commented Dmitrii Tachkin. 

According to the expert, up to 80% of cases of stroke, diabetes, and heart disease can be prevented by regular check-up and lifestyle adjustment following the doctor's recommendations. BIOT service was tested at large industrial enterprises, where it proved to be an analytical tool and a powerful psychological stimulus helping people make quick adjustments to their behavioral patterns. Example: people have been using the BIOT service for two weeks. At the beginning of the experiment, 7 of the 28 participants were found to be at risk for carbohydrate metabolism disorders. By the end of the experiment, 6 of them were out of the disease risk zone. Knowing that their health was being monitored by a physician, motivated people to adjust their daily routines.

BIOT is a medical decision support system based on data analytics. The technology provides continuous remote monitoring and analysis of human health indicators obtained from a personal wearable device (HEALBE GoBe wristband). The physician uses a professional analytical service to assess changes in physiological parameters and identify potential health risks to the patient in terms of metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, the impaired adaptive capacity of the body, and other issues.