New Orleans Mobile Health Project, Moped Medical, Wins $50,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant
New Orleans based mobile health start-up Moped Medical receives hard-fought $50,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant to deliver healthcare to people with chronic conditions. An international team of innovators succeeds in bringing exciting technology in the mobile health industry to New Orleans.
New Orleans, LA (PRWEB) October 2, 2010
As part of its Refresh the Gulf Project, Pepsi has awarded Moped Medical a $50,000 grant to provide health monitoring for New Orleans senior citizens. The project, a collaboration between AMGlobal Consulting and the medical technology firm Sensaris, will bring an innovative new approach to delivering healthcare to seniors seeking to manage chronic conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
The project is based around a highly mobile medical monitoring system, Sensaris’ SensPack, which enables health workers to reach patients where they live and gather, using cell phone connectivity to bring data to a patient’s doctor or care network in real time. The SensPack, which contains sensors to measure glucose, blood pressure and pulse oxygen levels, also includes a solar or hand-crank charger, making the units a “green” technology and completely self-sufficient.
Moped Medical is a joint effort between Grenoble-based Sensaris (http://www. sensaris. com), known for its innovative integration of sensors and cell phone technology, and AMGlobal Consulting, a US-based consulting firm internationally recognized for its work on corporate social responsibility and technology. Sensaris founder Michael Setton jumped at the chance to start the project in New Orleans. “In places like New Orleans, where there is significant concern around managing chronic diseases, we believe we can make a real difference by getting care out to patients directly,” he said. Levels of chronic disease for New Orleans seniors are some of the highest in the nation.
New Orleans native Beau Babst, who is leading up the project on the ground, expressed his enthusiasm. Babst, a graduate of Newman High and Yale University, and had just finished his second year in the city with Teach for America before being chosen by AMGlobal. Said Babst, “Especially in the aftermath of Katrina, we know that health services for the poor and elderly in our city are overstretched. With Moped Medical we can demonstrate a new technology and a new model of care. We have a chance to offer care for hundreds of New Orleanians.”
Based on the success of work on the Pepsi grant, the team hopes to expand the project to other areas of the United States and emerging or developing countries, where mobile health solutions may have even greater impact. “We’ve worked for years across Africa and Latin America and have seen few technologies with potential of the SensPack. It could change the face of health care in the developing world,” said Andrew Mack, Principal of AMGlobal Consulting. “We are thrilled to have won the Pepsi Grant and excited to begin work in New Orleans.”
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