Chicagoland Agencies Partner to Produce Cutting-edge Mobile Healthcare App

Two Chicagoland firms with a long history of working together have teamed up again to build a cutting-edge mobile Web application for one of Illinois’ leading cardiovascular specialty groups. The app, launched today, was designed for ad agency BVK’s client, Prairie Heart Institute of Illinois (PHII). BVK, one of America’s 25 largest independent advertising agencies, collaborated with Northbrook, Illinois-based digital developer atCommunications, LLC to produce the app.
The app, which is free to use, allows patients to track their weight, waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure, and cholesterol over time on any Web-enabled mobile device. Patients can view graphs displaying the data they have collected, compare it to goals they have established for themselves or with their physicians, and e-mail the data to themselves to share with their physicians.
“We wanted to empower patients with the ability to control their heart health by improving their communication with their physicians,” said James P. Zito, CEO of PHII. “The data collected allows physicians to track more clearly the effectiveness of a patient’s compliance.”
The multifaceted app also allows patients to input information about the medications they are taking, and e-mails them reminders when a dose is not recorded. It even includes one-touch access to GPS-enabled driving directions to each of PHII’s 45 clinics.
Since the application was rendered as a mobile Web app – rather than as a native app capable only of running on one manufacturer’s devices – it can be used on any Web-enabled device, including iPhones, iPods, and iPads, as well as on Blackberries, Android devices, and Windows Mobile devices. It can even be used on traditional PCs.
“The native mobile app market is becoming increasingly fragmented,” atCommunications’ founder, Terry Kasdan, said. “But everyone – regardless of which specific device one has – can access the mobile Web.” For this reason, several recent studies show the mobile Web is growing two to three times faster than the rate at which native smartphone apps are being developed.
“PHII’s brand is about doing the unexpected in ways that are just as unexpected,” said Tricia Lewis, Senior Vice President at BVK. “Their unique business model, cardiovascular research, and level of sophistication is nationally – and in some cases globally – recognized, and you would not expect to find this in the more rural setting of Central Illinois. So it was only natural for them to want to introduce technology that is on the forefront of patient compliance.”
Zito added, “We wanted to create a tool that was a modern evolution of how we have been working with patients and their families. We already are developing new strategies that will take the app to new levels of functionality.”