White Paper Provides Strategies and an Actionable Roadmap for Healthcare Organizations Interested in Launching an mHealth Initiative into the Hispanic Community

ROSWELL, GA and BOCA RATON, FL- September 27, 2011- HolaDoctor®, a global leader of Hispanic health programs, products and services and 3Cinteractive®, a leading provider of mobile software and services for the Fortune 1000, announced the release of a white paper on the promise and potential of using mobile communication for improving the health of U.S. Hispanics. The paper entitled, “Improving the Health of Hispanics Using Mobile Technology”, provides an overview of mobile health (mHealth) and why it is uniquely appropriate for the Hispanic population. The paper addresses the pros and cons of available mobile technologies, presents a case study of the ROI for improving medication adherence among Hispanic diabetics using mHealth, and provides a live, custom mobile demo.

During the past decade, the nation’s Hispanic population has grown to 50.5 million, making it the largest minority population in the U.S. and the country’s fastest growing demographic group. Hispanics have higher rates of certain costly chronic conditions (e.g. diabetes) and significantly lower medication adherence — a combination that is leading to increased medical costs for employers, health plans and governmental programs. In addition, the severe shortage of trained, culturally and linguistically competent healthcare providers represents a significant barrier to effectively serving this burgeoning population.

On the positive side, mobile technologies and health-related mobile initiatives have been embraced by Hispanics. Almost 90% of Hispanics own a mobile phone and 45% own a smartphone, versus 27% for whites. Nearly twice as many Hispanics have used their mobile device to look for health information and Hispanics are much more receptive to receiving health related text messaging than non-Hispanics. The white paper highlights the potential of mobile to help change behavior by delivering personalized, highly tailored communications via a platform widely used and highly trusted by Hispanics.

“Our paper provides an easy-to-understand update on the fast evolving field of mobile health and clear guidance on the innovative strategies that healthcare companies can use to impact behavior among Hispanic patients via mobile platforms,” said Dr. Dirk Schroeder, Executive Vice President at HolaDoctor, as well as a lead author of the paper. “Improved medication adherence through mobile-based communications personalized to the linguistic and cultural preferences of Hispanic patients, for example, will lead to better health outcomes and reductions in health care spending.”

“Public and private health plans are all looking for innovative solutions to reduce the incidence of diabetes and more effectively manage it. Absent innovations like mobile health, a third of the U.S. population born this past decade will have diabetes in 35 years. This is an exciting new approach to address the diabetes epidemic,” said Dr. Kenneth Thorpe, Professor of Health Policy at Emory University and co-author.

“Achieving appropriate access to care, diagnosis of disease, and successful intervention requires effective communication between providers and patients. To communicate effectively, we must meet people where they are, both culturally and physically,” added Barry Hix, General Manager of Healthcare Solutions at 3Cinteractive, and co-author of the paper. “There is great potential for healthcare leaders to improve clinical and economic outcomes by creating and sustaining a meaningful conversation with Hispanics via their mobile phone.”

“Improving the Health of Hispanics Using Mobile Technology,” (PDF) is available for download on 3Cinteractive’s website.

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22 year healthcare industry veteran joins 3Cinteractive to lead healthcare unit

Boca Raton, FL– (PRWEB) August 4, 2011– 3Cinteractive®, a leading provider of cloud-based mobile software and services for the Fortune 1000, announced the addition of Barry Hix as general manager of healthcare solutions. Hix is a healthcare executive with over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical, healthcare delivery, and medical device industries.

3Ci currently provides mobile solutions for some of the most respected names in healthcare, touching millions of patients a month. Hix will oversee 3Ci’s efforts to assist its healthcare clients to deploy mobile communication technology into healthcare markets to support clinical, operational, and commercial priorities.

“Barry has a deep understanding of the challenges facing healthcare and the role mobile communication can play in supporting and accelerating brand strategy and healthcare operations,” said Mike FitzGibbon, 3Cinteractive’s co-founder and president, “His addition solidifies our ability to deliver the best mobile solutions to healthcare.”

“Effective communication is fundamental to solving the challenges in healthcare related to access, diagnosis, intervention, and behavior modification,” said Hix, “With effective communication, we can deliver patients to the clinic, to intervention, to a therapeutic threshold, and to a desired clinical or economic outcome. Moreover, our most important intervention tool is already in the hands of our healthcare professionals, our patients and our communities in the form of their mobile device.”

Most recently, Hix was the founder and executive director of the Hix Group, a healthcare consultancy that 3Ci has been a client of for the past year. Before the Hix Group, Hix served as general manager and executive vice president at DJO/Empi, a Blackstone owned medical device company focused in orthopedics and rehabilitation. Prior to leading Empi, Hix served as a consultant to pharmaceutical manufacturers, medical device companies and health systems while president of Beyond Four. Preceding his time at Beyond Four, Hix served as vice president of strategic alliances for HealthSouth. Hix began his career at Merck & Co., where he held multiple positions in the company’s sales, managed care, and PBM (Medco) divisions. While at Merck, Hix was recognized for developing marketing strategy for reimbursed or managed markets across Merck’s acute and chronic product portfolio.

About 3Cinteractive

3Cinteractive® (www.3Cinteractive.com) provides integrated mobile software and services that help businesses communicate with consumers on their mobile device. Our mobile business solutions improve efficiencies by extending operational and CRM processes to the mobile channel. 3Ci’s cloud-based mobile platform – Switchblade® – allows businesses to deliver mobile solutions on any handset or carrier, using integrated mobile technologies such as messaging, voice, mWeb and smartphone apps. And our XaaS services suite makes it easy for businesses to deploy and maintain effective mobile business solutions. 3Ci is an active member of the CTIA and Mobile Marketing Association and is listed as one of the top ASPs by the Common Short Code Administration. 3Ci ranked 28th on the 2010 Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies in the U.S.

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Media Contact:

Vinnie Fiordelisi

3Cinteractive

561-443-5505 x158

vinnie@3Cinteractive.com

South Florida Business Journal
Brian Bandell
Friday, July 9, 2010

After creating mobile communication platforms for major corporations, Boca Raton-based 3Cinteractive has targeted the health care industry as a promising market for expansion.

The company has a pilot program with Walgreens to alert customers via text message that their prescriptions are ready. It’s working on similar patient notification applications for physician offices and pharmaceutical companies.

3Ci has done mobile applications work for national companies including AutoNation, AT&T and ESPN, mostly with cell phone mass messaging, billing and reservations. Mike FitzGibbon, 3Ci’s co-founder and president, said it spent much of the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first few months of 2010 planning its strategy for the health care market, where inefficiencies abound.

Health care is one of the few employment sectors that’s shown growth over the past year. The combination of aging baby boomers and increased access to medical services through the health care reform law should continue to make technology services for this industry a big market.

When it comes to being interactive with patients, health care is among the least technology savvy fields, FitzGibbon said, but 3Ci aims to change that.

One of the main targets for improvement is cutting down on medical appointment abandonment, he said. “Each appointment is worth a specific dollar amount and staff time,” FitzGibbon noted. “That’s lost revenue.”

Instead of having nurses and office staff call patients, 3Ci has designed an automatic text messaging application that alerts patients about their upcoming appointments. FitzGibbon said it’s more efficient than making calls, especially since some people don’t answer calls when they don’t recognize the incoming number.

For pharmaceutical companies, 3Ci is working on a text messaging application that would remind consumers when to take medications or order a refill. The pharmaceutical companies could also use the application to text coupons to consumers.

Sunrise-based Interim Healthcare is using a text-messaging system designed by 3Ci to contact its home health care providers in the field through mass messaging. The company often uses it to offer assignments and call multiple employees to the office, said Linda Shaub, Interim’s VP of marketing. While it’s not in all 312 of Interim’s offices yet, those that are using it have found it useful for communicating, she said.

John Styers, VP of corporate strategy at 3Ci, said the employee text messaging application has also been used by hospitals, including Truman Medical Centers in Kansas City, Missouri, because it makes sure that requests for assistance reach employees quickly. 3Ci’s other mobile applications for hospitals are for patients: to give them health and wellness news, notify them of available test results and give billing information.

While 3Ci has many predesigned programs for health care companies, it also has the flexibility to customize programs to meet the needs of particular clients, Styers said. Most of the programs it is rolling out were developed by working with a few health care providers, and engineering solutions for them.

“We want to make mobile solutions easier to deploy,” he said “It’s getting the health care facility to crawl by implementing mobile solutions where they can see immediate results.”

Mobile Industry Veteran to Spearhead Company’s mHealth Initiatives & Strengthen Industry Relations

Boca Raton, FL (PRWEB) April 29, 2010 — 3Cinteractive, a leading mobile platform company, announced that mobile industry veteran John Styers has joined the company as Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Industry Relations. Mr. Styers will be responsible for strengthening 3Ci’s carrier and industry relationships, as well as spearheading 3Ci’s mHealth initiatives.

“John Styers has an incredible track record in the mobile industry,” said John Duffy, 3Cinteractive’s CEO. “John’s carrier background, experience and industry relationships he has in the mobile ecosystem make him an invaluable member of our team.”

Mr. Styers’ focus on mHealth will cover two areas — sales and business development, as well as industry relations with organizations such as CTIA, who are heavily advocating the utility of mHealth solutions. Mr. Styers believes integrating mobile communications into healthcare is a win for everyone involved — providing immediate improvements in patient care and dramatically reducing costs for the industry.

“3Ci’s mHealth solutions expand the dialog between patient and healthcare provider, well beyond the walls of the examination room,” stated Mr. Styers. “We are focused on solving everyday issues with the device patients already own. This includes appointment alerts, staffing solutions, clinical trial communications, et cetera.”

Prior to joining 3Cinteractive, Mr. Styers co-founded Moblico in April 2007 to provide mobile industry consulting and development services.

Previously, Mr. Styers was the general manager of the Sprint Mobile Media Network. In that role, he guided the development and positioning of Sprint’s growing mobile advertising, search and off-portal content strategies. Prior to becoming GM, Mr. Styers led the development and design of Sprint’s Messaging as director of Data Communications. Before joining Sprint, Mr. Styers was the Global Director of Operations and Finance for Crown Greetings, the mobile division of Hallmark Cards. Mr. Styers’ expertise makes him a frequent speaker at MMA events, 3GSM, the Global Messaging Congress, and CTIA.

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eMarketing Mobile: Tapping Into Mobile’s Power and Reach

The mobile phone that nearly every American carries with them every day—and the common text message technology that you use to communicate with your family, friends, and peers—is causing disruptive changes in this post-DTC age of pharma and healthcare. Just as the Internet changed the way business communicates and distributes information and the way the public consumes it, so the widespread adoption of mobile device technology and text messaging has stimulated a similar monumental shift in consumer behavior.

If you have children, you probably already know that text messaging is not something that “only kids do.” If you don’t have children, consider the fact that the fastest-growing age demographic of SMS (a commonly used acronym for text messaging) users in the U.S. is 50 to 64 year olds (Pew Internet & American Life Project Survey, December 2007). Additionally, a 2009 Limbo report showed that 50% of SMS users in the U.S. are 35 and older. For 25 and older, that number jumps to 75%. The bottom line: all of your end consumers are text messaging.

Solving Business Challenges

“Until recently, SMS didn’t carry a connotation as a tool that solved business challenges. But once businesses understood the immediacy, reach, and cost-effectiveness of SMS, they began to realize the potential it can have within their everyday operations,” states John Duffy, founder and CEO of mobile platform provider 3Cinteractive. “SMS provides the most ubiquitous and effective way to reach consumers. Every phone in the U.S. today is capable of sending and receiving text messages. We make it easy for pharma and healthcare related businesses to tap into mobile’s power and reach. We make the barrier to entry very low for our clients.”

3Cinteractive, which helps companies develop and deploy mobile initiatives, experiences firsthand the powerful and immediate impact mobile campaigns can have in healthcare. “We developed SMS-based applications with a major pharmaceutical manufacturer that deliver a rebate coupon for brand-name prescriptions to a consumer’s mobile phone while they are at the pharmacy counter. This rebate can be redeemed right at the point of sale, helping pharmaceutical companies extend the revenue streams on brand-name drugs and stem the consumer shift to generics,” says Duffy.

“Additionally, we’ve deployed a mobile messaging solution for a national healthcare staffing company that allows them to reach out to their completely mobile workforce of 70,000 nurses instantly to notify them of staffing openings and important job-related updates. It has completely streamlined their staffing communications and driven down costs dramatically.”

mHealth Initiatives

The focus on mHealth solutions using mobile phones goes beyond mobile and healthcare-related businesses. CTIA, the non-profit wireless advocacy group that represents all sectors of the wireless industry, has engaged the U.S. government directly to help facilitate the adoption of mHealth initiatives by hosting mHealth policy forums. These forums allow government officials and wireless industry experts to work together to promote mHealth solutions that significantly drive down healthcare costs and increase the efficiency of delivering healthcare.

3Cinteractive is CTIA’s exclusive mobile technology partner, helping educate and inform the healthcare industry of the benefits associated with implementing mHealth strategies. “The cost reduction we have seen by deploying SMS applications in hospitals and medical centers is significant,” says 3Cinteractive’s VP of Industry Relations, John Styers, who works closely with CTIA on mHealth. “Reliable data is starting to surface showing that SMS applications have significantly increased patient compliance with drug and medical device treatments. This not only improves patient health, but drives down the costs associated with non-compliance—which are estimated to be $100 billion annually in the U.S.”

Considering the strong national focus on reducing healthcare costs, and the demonstrated ability of mobile messaging to not only reduce costs but also improve the effectiveness of delivering care, a perfect storm is brewing around mHealth. And the device that you carry with you everyday in your pocket might alter the healthcare
landscape forever.

This article originally appeared in the March 2010 issue of PM360.