This is the first in our interview series for the shortlisted companies for the Breakout Award in the AXA PPP HealthTech & You Awards 2016 The Breakout Award is dedicated to the piece of health tech that has most embedded itself into the public’s lives over the past year. The winner will be decided by YOU.
Michael Seres – CEO 11Health
SD – Hi, could you please introduce yourself?
My name is Michael Seres, I am the founder of 11 Health.
SD – Where are you based?
Our head office is in Hertfordshire, just outside London in the UK. We also have offices in the US.
SD – What is your background?
Having studied law and politics at university I then had a career in consumer product licensing. I worked across all fields of licensing including sport, entertainment and brands with events such as FIFA World Cup and European Championships to tv shows like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and The X Factor.
SD – What has been the inspiration for Ostom-i?
I was diagnosed aged 12 with the incurable bowel condition known as Crohn’s Disease. Following 25+ surgeries and intestinal failure I became the 11th patient in the UK to undergo a small bowel Transplant at The Churchill Hospital in Oxford. As part of my transplant i was given a stoma, an ileostomy. This is when part of the bowel is bought to the surface and all your waste is collected in a medical bag called a stoma bag. You lose control of the very thing we all take for granted, going to the toilet. With your nerve endings having been cut you have no control of the volume of output and when it happens. I assumed that there would be a solution to help me and when there wasn’t I built the first proto type sensor which went on to become the Ostom-i Alert.
SD – How does Ostom-i work?
In simple terms it is a sensor device that clips on to the outside of most medical bags. It then sends a signal via Bluetooth low energy to a free mobile app that allows patients to set multiple alarms to alert them as and when their bag is filling. In addition it automatically captures the output data of volume and time enabling healthcare professionals to remote monitor your gut functionality.
SD – What are the user benefits?
For the patient it is about regaining some control and improving quality of life. The ability to go out or go to bed with their phone next to them alerting them before an issue arises.
For the healthcare professional it is about the ability to remote monitor output. At the moment the only way of capturing output data is to empty in to a jug and then write down the values. Our device enables real time capturing of the output data and enables the healthcare professionals to make early decisions about interventions. For example too much output leads to dehydration and potential electrolyte loss whereas too little output can mean a blockage in the bowel.
SD – How does Ostom-i differ from other companies in this space?
At the moment there are no other companies in this space. We are the first ever technology looking to digitise medical bags. There are great advances in the technology surrounding the bags themselves but our device is bag agnostic and intended to be used on any stoma bags.
SD – What do you see as your biggest challenges for Ostom-i?
The challenges now are how we scale in different markets. We are gaining momentum in the US and are now working out how we build up our infrastructure to cope with that. Our technology is getting smarter and our ability to take data and integrate in to the patient record in hospital is a challenge that we are focusing on right now. It is all about maintaining the best possible customer service. How we react to set backs is as important as to how we cope with the growing demand.
SD – What do you see the digital health landscape being in 2020?
At the moment healthcare in its current guise is not sustainable. We have patients living longer with chronic multiple long term conditions. There are more medicines available and surgical techniques are getting better and better. However all of that comes at a cost. That cost is growing and unmanageable. We have to move to a culture of preventing things happening rather than treating them once they have happened. That is where digital health can play a big role. Wearables, sensors and technology can all assist in predicting problems. The big question is whether the consumer, the patient, will have a change in mind set and be able to use the digita health tools to change their habits and help prevent issues arising.
The other big area is data. At the moment we are flooded with data in fact there is an argument that there is too much data. The question therefore is not about growing the volume of data but learning what data is relevant. That is why Ostom-i works. It provides the relevant data in an easy to use and understand format.
My final thought is around precision medicine. Digital Health enables us to personalise healthcare. This is the future, treatment deliver with the patient not too the patient.
SD – Why should the public vote for Ostom-i?
How can you build any thing without understanding the end user. Ostom-i is built by the end user Everything we do is about understand that end user and making their lives easier. That doesn’t just mean the patient who can now get a decent night sleep. It means the healthcare professional who can access the information in the right way for them. We are true patient led innovation and I hope that a vote for us is a vote for all those patients who have solved real life problems.
SD – How do people find our more information?
That is the easy bit. You can reach me on twitter @mjseres or you can find us on 11health.com or on facebook, twitter, instagram, linkedIn or Pinterest.
SD – thanks for your time
Click http://on.fb.me/1ntE7J0 to vote for Michael and Ostom-i
The post Who gets your vote? – Interview with Michael Seres, Founder of 11Health appeared first on Salus Digital.