SYRACUSE — 3Pound Health, a health and wellness software company, recently released its Euco personal health-manager platform, the next step in the company’s goal to help doctor’s more effectively communicate with patients in order to generate lasting health changes. Euco is a patient-engagement platform comprised of a clinician-focused web application that connects to a corresponding […]
SYRACUSE — 3Pound Health, a health and wellness software company, recently released its Euco personal health-manager platform, the next step in the company’s goal to help doctor’s more effectively communicate with patients in order to generate lasting health changes.
Euco is a patient-engagement platform comprised of a clinician-focused web application that connects to a corresponding mobile app for patients called the Euco Personal Health Manager. The platform allows clinicians to put advice in their patients’ hands every day while also giving insight to how well patients are adhering to doctor’s orders.
Euco allows clinicians to “coach” patients in five key areas: nutrition, activity, medications, measurements, and labs, Katie MacIntyre, marketing and PR manager at 3Pound, says in an email. “The platform provides a simple way to put clinician advice in participants’ hands everyday while providing a secure connection for encouragement and support between face-to-face interactions.”
The company was founded in 2012 and has an office in Syracuse’s Technology Garden.
3Pound’s initial target market is surgical and non-surgical obesity-treatment programs, MacIntyre says. The estimated medical cost of obesity is expected to hit $200 billion this year .More than one-third of U.S. adults are classified as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s estimated that less than 4 percent are actively being treated by a physician for their obesity, MacIntyre says. And even for those receiving treatment, it’s a struggle to support patients outside the office, making it difficult for those patients to continue making positive changes. That’s where Euco can come into play, providing that tool for doctors to check in with patients, make recommendations, and make sure patients are following up on them.
The company is marketing Euco along three different avenues, MacIntyre says. 3Pound is engaging its target market by attending, exhibiting, and speaking at key obesity-related conferences. The company will participate in the American Society of Bariatric Physicians Annual Conference in Texas Sept. 10-12, the MedTech 2014: Redefining Innovation in the Face of Healthcare Reform event in Albany Sept. 15-16; and Obesity Week in Boston Nov. 2-7.
“We also just kicked off a digital campaign to drive our audience from targeted digital ads and social media to landing pages that offer more information about Euco and the opportunity to contact us for a live demo,” MacIntyre says.
3Pound is also focused on developing research studies involving Euco. “We would like to publish research that helps validate our software and adds credibility to our sales efforts,” she says.
Community engagement is the third marketing element. “We are working on a community initiative to make Euco available for community partners such as universities and health organizations to trial the software and see how it works for their programs,” MacIntyre says. “We are also engaging with universities to connect with local talent and to support programs that need host companies for research and internship opportunities.”
3Pound will generate its revenue from health and wellness companies that will, in turn, offer Euco to their patients. Companies will pay a nominal training and implementation fee and then a volume-based per-participant fee, MacIntyre says.
Workplace wellness & growth
While the company is targeting the medical weight-loss market initially, the Euco platform is designed to support broader initiatives including efforts such as workplace-wellness programs. 3Pound has already begun development strategic relationships with program providers and population health software partners to accelerate its entry in that market, MacIntyre says. “Our intention is to provide market-leading patient-engagement tools for broad use in population health management,” MacIntyre says.
Growth will primarily be in the customer-support area, she says, as the company begins to hit its sales goals. She declined to provide sales projections. As the company’s sales grow, she expects employment will grow as well. 3Pound’s staff has already increased from two employees to 12 over the past year.
3Pound Health (www.3poundhealth.com) is the vision of Dr. Robert Corona, a John Bernard Henry professor and chairman of pathology and laboratory medicine at Upstate Medical University, and Dr. Wendy Scinta, chief medical officer of 3Pound and board certified in obesity medicine and family medicine, in cooperation with Jud Gostin, CEO of Aspen Hollow Ventures, LLC. Gostin was formerly the longtime president and CEO of Sensis Corp. before retiring. All three serve on 3Pound’s advisory board.
Brian J. Buys is president and CEO of 3Pound Health.
Contact The Business Journal News Network at news@cnybj.com