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We’re very excited to have been named to CNBC’s list of the 50 most disruptive companies changing the business landscape today.  It’s a who’s who of companies who are revolutionizing their industries, including SpaceX, Kickstarter, Square, Uber, Box, Dropbox, Palantir, Pinterest, Warby Parker…and many more. You can read more about CNBC’s selection process, and see the other great companies driving change in healthcare and beyond.

Disruption is one of those concepts that is incredibly important but hard to define. For CNBC, what makes Ginger.io disruptive is our proactive approach to patient care through information and analysis.  For our partners and users, we stand out because of our ability to create connection and empower care through data.  And for each of us on the Ginger.io team, it is our long term vision that lets us belive in our ability to make a difference.

We are honored to have been given this title by CNBC, and to have been recognized as a company with such power to disrupt.  Now it is up to us to execute on our vision and make a difference.

What do you think? What does disruptive mean to you and who else would you have liked to see on the list?

I’m quite excited about the results of a new clinical trial published in the January 28th issue of JAMA Internal Medicine (formerly known as “Archives of Internal Medicine”). The study, titled “Integrating Technology into Standard Weight Loss Treatment”, is by a group of researchers at the Northwestern School of Medicine. This is one of the highest profile randomized controlled trials of a mobile health intervention I have seen so far. The medical literature evaluating mobile health’s effect on patient outcomes is pretty spotty right now, and tends to clump in fairly obscure journals. However, JAMA Internal Medicine is a widely read and highly cited journal, which means that the results of this trial will get noticed.

Here’s how the study worked:
The research was performed at Veteran’s Affairs hospitals in the Midwest and led by researchers in Chicago at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois. The team recruited 70 overweight/obese patients and randomly split them in half. One half of the patients had the “standard” treatment — an intense program of biweekly weight loss clinic visits. The other half had the same program but also received a mobile device (an old school personal digital assistant, or “PDA”) with a simple weight loss/nutrition application. A personal health coach tracked the second group’s data.

The results:
Impressively, the participants who were assigned the PDAs lost and kept off an average of 4 kg (9 lbs) more at 12 months than the standard group. By the standards of weight loss trials, a 9 pound difference is a significant win for any intervention, especially a non-pharmacologic one. Another fascinating result is that the PDA group started losing more weight within 3 months of starting the trial and kept the weight off, as opposed to gradually losing extra weight over time. An extra wrinkle in the results is that the only group of patients to lose and keep off weight were the PDA-using patients who regularly attended weight loss clinic sessions. The PDA patients who didn’t attend the sessions ended up gaining weight over the trial.

What does this mean for the mobile health community?
This trial shows that the PDA intervention was crucial in establishing behavior change from the start of the trial, without which no weight loss could happen. In fact, the non-PDA group in the trial on average didn’t lose any weight. But the other critical results is that without clinical support, even the PDA group didn’t lose weight. The most successful group in this trial at losing weight were the patients that used the PDA and went to their clinic sessions. This is a strong case for the model that mobile health interventions need to click into patient’s clinical care to create sustainable behavior change. Expecting big things to happen with applications that only involve patients or only involve clinicians is likely to be less successful than an application that builds on the patient-clinician relationship.

Other details:
I have to note a few other interesting parts of this trial:

• This study has been a long time coming: it started in 2007, which means that planning may have begun as early as 2005. This explains why the intervention with PDAs seems laughably dated to us in 2013. So whatever this study shows, just imagine a similar study today with a smartphone app instead of giving patients an entirely new device with one app?
• Another lesson is that this was not a computer literate group of patients. Only 30% of the PDA patients were college graduates. However, they learned the technology and engaged meaningfully, implying that education should not be a barrier to using mobile health technology.

What do you think? How can we (and others) build on the importance of the patient-clinician relationship? Let us know or tweet @ginger_io!

Want to make a difference in how we treat chronic conditions? Prove It! by entering the 2013 Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge.  Prove It! kicks off the Redesigning Data Challenge Series, in partnership with the Health Data Consortium.

You can find out more about the challenge on the DDD website, and get our perspective on why you should enter on their blog.  We’re looking forward to seeing the great ideas that come through this year — and finding more allies in the fight to improve care for all!

Help us get the word out by tweeting – mention @ginger_io and @DDDiabetes.

This past week, Ginger.io Customer Champion Peter Smith made an appearance on the DSMA Live podcast with Cherise Shockley, Scott Johnson and George Simmons. Over the course of an hour, they discussed Ginger.io, our team, our on-going diabetes work, and mental health support for people living with diabetes.

You should listen to the podcast (it’s great), or check out some of the other ones, including one with our friend Manny Hernandez of Tu Diabetes.

But if you’re in a rush, we asked Pete for the most important points he made:

• At Ginger.io, our focus is on helping people live with all aspects of a chronic condition. We’ve noticed that despite the prevalence of mental health conditions in the diabetes community (people living with diabetes are twice as likely to have depression as those living with no chronic condition) it’s often an under-discussed issue.
• We actively engage with users and shape the product around their experiences as opposed to building what we think they want. We believe it’s important, especially in this beta period, to let the people using our product shape its direction.
• One of the most interesting pieces of feedback we’ve heard is that our daily mood surveys can be really helpful.. Many people reported that they don’t reflect upon their mood until they’re asked about it, and our surveys are a good prompt.

Interested in learning what it’s all about? Find out more and sign up here! And help us get the word out — just mention @ginger_io!

Update: Here’s the podcast and a quick summary on the DSMA site.

Ryan Hagen is a PhD student at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology who has been using Ginger.io for his thesis research. As part of his project, he had to recruit 75 people from the Boston community (and beyond) to use the Ginger.io app for three months and contribute to his work. Using a variety of techniques, Ryan exceeded his recruitment goals. We asked him to share some of his tips for doing so, especially as online patient recruitment continues to be a hot topic. This is the second in a two part series on patient recruitment.

Ryan presenting at the Boston QS meetup
In my last post, I discussed using online social networks to recruit participants. This week, I wanted to cover reaching out to offline social networks as well.

Colleges

Why colleges are a great resource for research recruitment:

• They are flooded with legal-aged people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds who have an abundance of time and use their phone like an appendage. They are also generally more motivated by the chance of winning a $50 gift card.
• They are an excellent source for finding enthusiastic special interest groups
• Most have a live-in community full of bulletin boards
•  Some universities require participation in some form of research as part of their degree.
• There is a higher percentage of people invested in helping advance knowledge and science.

I sent out about 100 emails to college professors and directors of programs related to my research focus. This was accomplished by looking up a list of the top 50 Universities by size, then going to each of their directories on the web and creating a list of emails according to department. I told them a little about my study, asked if they would be willing to forward the email or post a flyer, and expressed gratitude for their consideration.

If you intend to do this, it is important that you send each email individually. Even if you use the exact same letter for all recipients, you will want to take the time to insert the person’s name at the top, which grabs their attention and makes them less likely to assume they are reading junk-mail. The other reason to send emails individually is that junk-mail filters often have settings that identify junk based on an unrecognized sender with multiple addresses.

Networking and Correspondence

Talk to anyone who will listen about your study, and find other researchers with similar goals. Print eye-catching business cards with scan-able QR codes linking potential participants to your enrollment page by scanning it with their phone. Always express gratitude for any amount of attention given to your pitch, and reply to all emails, even if the person indicates that they are unable to participate. There were a few individuals that fit this description during my recruitment, but they expressed interest in what I was studying and ended up playing significant roles as advertisers.

In all your outreach, be sure to know your audience and position your message accordingly. For instance, if you are an ambitious but struggling student, using “I/me/my” and making it clear you are doing most of your work independently may gain you sympathy and help. Conversely, when emailing people to ask them to share their personal data, using plural pronouns in your correspondence emails and ads (we/us/our instead of I/me/my) can increase comfort levels. It becomes clear you are working as part of a team, even if it’s just under the supervision of an advisor

Conclusion

These tips only scratch the surface of the many available resources for participant recruitment. Other possibilities include creating a website for your study, writing a blog about your topic, and recording/posting presentations or study related events. The more your study is represented on the web the more exposure you will get and the greater your chances will be for recruiting participants. If you have any questions about this article, participant recruitment or my smartphone mood study, feel free to shoot me an email at RyanLHagen.MA@gmail.com. Good luck!

Do you have other suggestions? Have you tried any of these techniques? Let us know by tweeting at @ginger_io!

Ryan Hagen is a PhD student at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology who has been using Ginger.io for his thesis research. As part of his project, he had to recruit 75 people from the Boston community (and beyond) to use the Ginger.io app for three months and contribute to his work. Using a variety of techniques, Ryan exceeded his recruitment goals. We asked him to share some of his tips for doing so, especially as online patient recruitment continues to be a hot topic. This is the first in a two part series on patient recruitment.

The world connected through Ginger.io (before our identity update)
When I began this project, my previous study coordination experience was limited to a larger study using a previously gathered sample. Then I had been spared the daunting task of recruiting participants. For that reason, I had quite a bit of anxiety about recruiting the large number of people I need for my current study on the use of smartphone data in the assessment of mood.

If you are reading this article, chances are you are currently experiencing some anxiety of your own over patient recruitment. If so, I have good news for you. Thanks to the internet, there are a number of resources for gathering participants and tools for assisting with the process. Using these strategies, I surpassed my goal of 75 participants (At the time of writing this article 122 are enrolled) using a “relatively” minimal amount of effort.

Facebook
If you only choose one form of media to recruit participants, make it Facebook. In addition to providing an army of advertisers (via sharing your post with the friends of the friends of your friends) it’s also an excellent way to target specialized groups that are relevant to your study. Of my 122 participants, I would estimate at least 50% came from Facebook referrals. Given my experiences, here is a list of general tips:

• Give your study its own Facebook page, or create a page within your own profile
• Create Facebook events, marking the study launch date or an upcoming raffle and send out mass invitations (study launch, upcoming raffle drawing)
• Post regular updates about the progress of your study (with subtle reminders about enrollment)
• Post at optimal times
  
• Ask your friends to like, share, and repost your ads
• Get discussions going about your topic

Special Interest Groups on the Web
Depending on your study, finding groups interested in the specific focus of your research can present varying degrees of challenge. If you’re having trouble, try to capitalize on the fact that you are using cutting edge technology, and reach out to any number of the many organizations devoted to exploring that edge. Quantified Self is a life-tracking group dedicated to exploring the limits of what can be learned about health and behavior using automated digital data collection. They have chapters around the world, many of them numbering in the thousands. I emailed the heads of the largest chapters via meetup.com, introducing myself as a member and asking them to share my recruitment ad with their local members. I also made plans with my Boston Chapter to present at one of their conferences. This generated a lot of interest in my study, both from the conference itself and from online views of the video.

Next week I’ll cover offline network outreach and email best practices. If you have any questions about this article, participant recruitment or my smartphone mood study, feel free to shoot me an email at RyanLHagen.MA@gmail.com. Good luck!

-Ryan Hagen

Do you have other suggestions? Have you tried any of these techniques? Let us know by tweeting at @ginger_io!

The new look

Our roots reach all the way back to a dusty basement at MIT, where we first crunched data for the research that would grow into Ginger.io. Since then, we’ve graduated from our college digs, shifted our focus and improved our sense of design. Now, we’re unveiling a new look that you’ll start to see across our website and our mobile apps.

Our previous all-caps blue “GINGER.io” logo stemmed from our early days (all the way back in 2011) as a technology company looking to change how data was collected and applied in research and clinical care. Since then, we’ve grown into an individual and provider-centric company that’s dedicated to building deeper connections between healthcare providers and their customers through the use of data. Our new look, with its clean, modern lines, reflects these goals and also serves as a recommitment to our values of empathy, trust and accountability.

The process

Like any good start-up, we started with a spec and iterated from idea to MVP to finished product. We debated logo vs. icon vs. both, as well as what about our company we wanted our new identity to highlight. Our design brief asked that the identity “evoke images of health without losing sight of the technology and data aspects.”

Various iterations on the Ginger.io identity

We asked our design lead, Sabih Mir, to explain what he liked about the identity we ultimately chose:

“Our goals for the new identity were pretty clear: take some time to think about how Ginger.io has evolved, and through that process arrive at a new, cohesive visual language that is simple, modern and adaptable. We wanted something that will grow with us as an organization.”

What do you think?

As we continue to learn and grow over the year(s) ahead, we look forward to talking to more individuals, more caregivers and more providers, and finding ways to deepen their connections. Interested? Partner with us today by e-mailing hello@ginger.io.

And of course, if you have thoughts on our new logo, please share them with us below or by tweeting @ginger_io.

Greetings, everyone. This is my first round-up of interesting events and news in health-tech. My goal with this blog series is to discuss three things: my thoughts on the future of healthcare, how that future is being achieved today, and how individuals can take better control of their own care. This week, I’m looking at tools that in some way seek to make better use of data, whether it’s improving visualization, analysis or insight discovery. Let’s dive in!

Health Design Challenge
Julia blasted to the team about this a few days ago and I thought it was pretty cool. Basically, the challenge was to “reimagine patient health records.” Electronic Medical Records (or EMRs) is a really hot topic in healthtech. The existing system is buggy and often sub-optimal for information visualization, storage, and retrieval for both healthcare providers and patients alike. The entries range from design submissions to apps that are being built by start-ups. If you have a few minutes, scroll through the showcase and winners. Whether any of these designs become the new reality for future EMRs, I appreciate this challenge because it brings to light many new ideas and solutions, most of which will be a part of whatever system of EMR defines the future. We’re even more excited about this because (as it turns out) one of the people behind the project, White House Innovation Fellow Ryan Panchadsaram, used to be a part of the Ginger.io team!

Knome: The next generation of sequencing and interpreting a human genome
While I knew that gene sequencing has become significantly cheaper and more commercialized, I still thought that interpreting the gene sequences to map sequences and abnormalities to traits or diseases hadn’t advanced beyond research labs. That’s why I was so taken with Knome. If you work with a pharmaceutical/company/university, and have the $125,000 to spend, it sounds like a pretty neat investment. For the rest of us, this is the first generation of an incredibly powerful technology. Perhaps in a few years, the sequencers might be the size of an external drive, cost a couple thousand dollaers and be marketed towards the average, interested consumer! I saw some parallels between what Knome is doing and what we’re doing at Ginger.io: we’re both focused on trying to make vast amounts of data about your own health accessible to you.

WellnessFX’s Uncommon Wellness Tips
WellnessFX is a pretty cool start-up dealing with managing wellness, and I chanced across their blog. I thought this graphic was particularly neat and illustrates (literally) one of the biggest motivators for why we do what we do here at Ginger.io: we believe in an individual’s ability to take charge of his or her own health. The indications for which our app is used for (mental health, diabetes, etc.) tend to be chronic illnesses that are greatly influenced by the general health and well-being of the user. Whether it’s exercising for a few minutes every day or eating better, as this graphic shows and as the complicated algorithm behind Ginger.io ultimately projects, the benefits are multifold. This graphic captured, in my mind, the philosophy behind Ginger.io and a lot of other pushes in healthtech right now: prolonged wellness through small actionable steps. So let’s all raise a glass of lemon water to better biomarker levels in 2013!

That’s it for now! As always, tweet us @ginger_io with thoughts, musings, or other things you think we should check out!

We were really excited to be featured in a lengthy article on Diabetes Mine this week!  Managing Editor Mike Hoskins wrote a really comprehensive piece that did a great job of telling our story, introducing the idea of behavior analytics and emphasizing our commitment to making a difference for the DOC.

One important part was Mike’s explanation of how the heck Ginger.io is able to use phone data to help better understand mood, health and well-being.

“By analyzing general patterns that are not invasive, Ginger.io is simply gathering a general sense of people’s behavior, [Account manager Peter Smith] says. For example, if someone who’s depressed has a flare up, they are likely to isolate themselves socially and the app would be able to sense this by noting that they are texting and calling less.”

Mike has been using the app himself as part of prep for the article.  If you’d like to be one of our t2 testers, sign up here to reserve your spot!

Blogger Kerri Sparling featured Ginger.ion on her blog, Six Until Me, with a focus on telling the mission-driven piece of our story.

Her post highlighted how our founders, Anmol and Karan, met at MIT and were united by a shared interest in re-shaping healthcare, and how people received care.  Most of the coverage in the DOC on Ginger.io has been very much around what we’re doing today — it’s nice to have a chance to tell a bit more of the story of how we all became committed to making a difference for people living with chronic conditions, and their communities.