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What follows is from our SPOTLIGHT REPORT's "Acquirer/Acquiree Calculus" section
We've talked to over 100 doctors as part of our Deep Dive into PHR, and one 20-year GP in Denver shared this ineluctable truth:
it would be mainstream already."
Sure, probably as a function of mostly talk-little action, PHRs have stalled-- but it's merely the taxi on the runway before takeoff (2008); some tech trends happen gradually-then-rapidly.
The rest of this week we'll talk here about how a rise in EMR adoption (now just ~15%) will cause PHR uptake in the Collaborator segment, as doctors cajole their patients into using the essential consumer-facing feature of their practice's core IT system.
Today we shine a high beam on one of the New Innovators in PHR. There's tangible foment at the Web 2.0 level, which will help propel PHR in that the traditional competitors (those that are left after the shakeout period that was 2004-2006) respond by making something similar ... or buying (acquiring).
What follows is an interview that took place 7/12/2007:
Matt says: Today we interview Marston Alfred of www.sugarstats.com.
Matt says: Hello Marston.
Marston says: Hello.
Matt says: We've been covering PHR-- do you see SugarStats as a Personal Health Record for those with diabetes?
Marston says: I do indeed; storing, tracking and managing a person’s diabetic data and statistics is primarily what SugarStats is for.
Matt says: So then-- big question-- do you see it as a consumer-facing brand, or will you pursue a "Powered By" strategy, seeking to make it the diabetes component of others' PHR platform?
Marston says: While right now we are specifically for the consumer and individual diabetic, we have plans in the future to release a version for health care practitioners, clinics, hospitals, HMOs etc with possible white-label options. This version with have a focus on being able to manage many individual accounts and sub-groups for easy group management, interaction and collaboration.
Matt says: What is the monetization approach-- users pay, it's free and they see ads, or something else?
Marston says: Well, we're still finalizing this area at the moment. What we want to do is make this tool available to as many people in the diabetic community as possible while still being able to sustain our business. We're going with a "freemium" approach in which we have a free plan where the large majority of the features are free along with a premium plan with bonus features for a small monthly fee. The Premium plan includes the ability to track more things, includes SSL encryption and is ad free among other things. The free version includes small, unobtrusive text-based Google ads.
Matt says: How have you found initial trial and adoption, to date?
Marston says: We had a BETA testing phase for 3 months before launch which helped us greatly in refining the system. We’ve had tremendous overall response so far. Since launching we've found the same to be true and get nothing but positive feedback from our users.
Matt says: Tell us about why
Marston says: Mainly for ease of use. That is one of the primary goals with SugarStats for us. It brings a new aspect to web surfing and in general provides a much better user experience for the end user.
Tracking diabetic statistics and blood glucose reading is already a big hassle for some, we wanted to make the input/viewing of stats a simple action.
Our next major priority is opening up the system with an API and integrating with various major social networks such as Twitter.com, Facebook.com, MySpace.com etc. People want to be able to share their progress and statistics in order to gain support. Also by doing so we gain a number of input methods for the users of our system.
Matt says: Do you have the infrastructure to support 1,000s-- if not 100,000s or more of users?
Marston says: We don't worry too much about premature optimization; we handle issues and scaling issues as they crop up.
With that said we always keep optimization in mind and have built the underlining system and hardware to scale for more users. Which means should we incur a large influx of usage we can easily add more hardware and servers in minutes to accommodate. We currently have sufficient capacity to handle thousands of users and are easily able to expand to meet performance needs.
Matt says: About what percentage of folks with diabetes, would you guess, use online PHRs like this?
Marston says: This is definitely a tough question to give a solid answer; more research needs to be done. If I were to guess, I would say in the
Matt says: Who do you see as your principal competitors and how are you different?
Marston says: Speaking specifically from a “functional” perspective, there is nothing new about what we’re doing. Online diabetes stats tracking has been done before by many with varying degrees of success. But if you ask me, the major factor is in the usability and execution of the application. How easy is it to use, will people actually LIKE using it, etc. When I started these were a few of the problems I saw in the current stat of online diabetes management and wanted to try and solve. Also, with the drastic change in web technology of the last few years it is just amazing what you can do now. It is definitely not your father's internet.
In any case there are few projects going on now that cover at least one area that we do. One project is called mysugars.com and another is sweetspot.dm. While I don’t really consider us direct competition, I think we each take a different slant on online PHR management. Our differentiation is completely in our interface and user experience, this is what we’ve focused on since the beginning. Our plans for integration with the major social networking sites such as Twitter.com, Facebook.com, MySpace.com etc also make our approach quite different.
Matt says: What meters do you support—we assume that a key function is ability to auto-collect blood sugar info?
Marston says: Currently we support OneTouch glucose meters. Users can use the OneTouch software that comes with their meters to create an export of their readings and upload that file to SugarStats.
While we’re working on getting more support, the current state of the glucose meter industry is a sad affair in regards to using open formats. Each manufacturer uses different or proprietary protocols to store the glucose data. So it is a slow process in figuring out how to integrate each meter into our system. There are however projects underway to try get an open format approved for use by the various meter manufacturers.
Matt says: Do you have plans to execute SugarStats in other languages besides English?
Marston says: As a matter of fact yes. Our first priority is to open the system with an API to integrate with social networks, websites and to create widgets. Next we plans to localize the system for multiple languages and locales.
Matt says: Do you think the key value of SugarStats is sharing one’s blood sugar data trends with one’s doctor, with others (e.g., support group), or for one’s own edification regarding good control?
Marston says: All three!!! From the start I’ve just envisioned so many different uses and benefits for storing and sharing one info online. I think first and foremost though it is about providing the individual diabetic with information and stats they can immediately understand and act on. But being able to share this info with your health care professional and family/friends we see as equally beneficial.
Matt says: Thank you Marston-- best to you and www.sugarstats.com.
