Case Studies
Case Studies
Estenda partners with organizations creating digital health innovations designed to improve the health and well-being of our fellow humans. Projects are wide ranging and can be consumer/patient facing, used by clinical professionals integrating disparate data sources or purely internal efforts to collect, analyze and report on interesting data.
Estenda is not the organization you just hand requirements to for custom development. We are not an offshore development shop. The Estenda process is highly collaborative. Our customers often just have an idea. We help flush it out. We ask questions. We help figure out what you really need and what’s possible within your budget. We drive innovation. We provide value.
Our work combines our deep domain knowledge in healthcare and our strengths in strategy, data analytics, custom software development, implementation, and support.
Explore our case studies to see how we’ve helped organizations transform the digital health landscape and improve the health and well-being of our fellow humans.
The IHS Teleophthalmology Program is a long-established partnership with the Joslin Diabetes Center, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and Indian Health Services (IHS) to deliver critical ophthalmology services to American Indian/Alaskan Native populations across the United States. The JVN program provides retinal screening services to diabetes patients otherwise underserved or unreached by ophthalmologists with the primary goal of identifying high risk disease, in particular diabetic retinopathy, and preventing vision loss.
Since the early 2000s, Estenda has provided day to day operational support for over 100 individual sites nationwide and growing. Estenda also provides ongoing software development, data integration, expansion assistance, and research support to the program. Current research efforts including understanding the incidence and prevalence of diabetic retinopathy within the population served, adherence to treatment recommendations and follow up, as well as improvements in the image review process serve to expand the program’s scope and improve overall outcomes for patients.
For PrescribeWell, Estenda crafted an innovative scalable SaaS platform providing a reimbursable solution for physician practices to help patients lose weight and feel better – all at no cost to patients.
Using evidence-based strategies the SaaS platform provides a health and wellness solutions to primary care clinics. Integrated with their EMR and leading mobile applications to capture daily food intake and physical activity, the solution creates a prescription for weight loss based on patient interests, situation, and willingness to change. The solution monitors the patient, provides education and encouragement and is a billable service for the provider.
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) sponsored a Matchmaking App Challenge hosted by Health 2.0 to boost patient participation in designing research initiatives. For the first time, patients would not just be subjects, but an integral part of defining the research. Estenda created an innovative website based on a 3-pronged approach: Interests, Ideas, and Studies.
From a patient, caregiver and clinician’s perspective, it was a simple hub where they could ask original questions, drive engaging conversations, learn new information and formulate ideas about health.
From a researcher’s perspective, it was a platform with easy access to valuable information and a pool of motivated study participants. Researchers could quickly pull data to generate their hypothesis, design research protocols, recruit qualified participants and publish their findings.
This work could consolidate community efforts around public health challenges: the public could voice their concerns; researchers could draw preliminary data; and stakeholders could confidently allocate funds to studies that aligned with population needs.
Both Estenda and Healthcare Research Associates, LLC’s president, Regina Greer-Smith, were awarded Honorable Mention in the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCORI) Challenge – Estenda for prototype, Greer-Smith for Concept. In the spirit of PCORI, they brought their ideas together to develop a mobile application for Greer-Smith’s S.T.A.R. Initiative – Strategically Targeting Appropriate Researchers, a culturally appropriate methodology for minority communities to identify, select, and involve researchers capable of engaging communities to conduct Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR).
- Reduced the need for in-person visits
- Optimized the use of limited resources
- Compiled more accurate, real-time data
- Provided a platform for higher patient engagement
The CDMP software was integrated with Lanai’s existing EMR – eClinicalWorks. Data was recorded, updated and published alongside other medical records that could instantly be extrapolated for data visualization.
From a patient’s perspective, tracking blood glucose and blood pressure became simple and automatic. The CDMP software also possessed the capability to survey patients. Information could be gathered to assess patient needs and behaviors, fueling advanced healthcare planning and new clinical research.
Not only was Lanai able to close gaps in data collection, but they were able to transform their practice and offer improved medical care to their local population.
In 2017, Lanai was honored to receive a HIMSS Davies Community Health Award based on the collaborative work with Estenda. Such an honor is given to organizations that leverage digital technology to elevate patient telehealth experiences while reducing costs.
In the early 2000s before the days of ubiquitous smart phones, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched Project HealthDesign to stimulate innovation in personal health information technology, molding PHAs into what they are today.
Estenda and researchers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, serving members of the military, veterans and their families, partnered to develop a Personal Health Application (PHA) that could collect patient data about their lives, analyze patient health records and then offer individualized suggestions – all with the goal of improving symptoms and health by helping patients manage diabetes more effectively to reduce medication errors and increase adherence to prescribed lifestyle recommendations.
Visit Science Direct for more details.
Estenda is proud to be among over 130 individuals from more than 60 organizations representing industry, academia, government agencies, clinicians, and patients participated in the year-long project. The result of this work is the 2022 iCoDE Report: CGM-EHR Integration Standards and Recommendations.
