Ed Deng has a 70 percent chance of getting diabetes. That’s because diabetes runs in his family – both his parents and all four of his grandparents have diabetes. In fact, three of his grandparents have already passed away from diabetes-related complications: kidney failure, heart failure, etc.
That’s why Ed and his co-founders, Ken Lai and Erin Chung, created Health2Sync — to give diabetics and their families
the power to make life changes for a longer and healthier life — just like his one remaining grandmother who is almost 90 and still going strong. So what has made the difference?
Data is Key to Diabetes Management
Ed believes it’s because of his grandmother’s emphasis on maintaining a regular diabetes care management routine. Every day, his grandmother measures and tracks her own blood sugar levels. With this data, her daughter makes daily adjustments to her diet to keep her blood sugar levels normal and her body healthy.
Sounds simple enough, but it’s not always that easy to have a good diabetes management routine. Even with electronic glucometers that read and record blood sugar levels, it’s still hard for many to stay motivated. According to an American Diabetes Association survey 21% of adults with Type 1 diabetes never checked their blood sugar, 47% of insulin-treated Type 2 diabetes never monitored, and 76% of non-insulin treated Type 2 diabetes never checked their blood sugar. Those that do monitor regularly often have a hard time knowing what to eat to control their blood sugar, especially since every person’s body is different and goes through different changes.
This also means that doctors usually don’t have enough data to help patients make the best decisions. Typically, patients go in to see their doctor once every one to two months. A lot can happen in that time, and only about 15% of patients bring their daily logs to these visits. Doctors may not hear about significant issues until long after the fact, and it’s easy for patients to forget the details after several weeks. Without accurate data, it’s very difficult for doctors to prescribe insulin or to make other adjustments.
“Data is paramount in controlling diabetes,” Ed emphasizes, “You need to know what’s going on in your system every day. If you have too little insulin, it can eventually lead to life-debilitating complications. If you inject more insulin than needed to lower your blood sugar, it can be life threatening.”
“And,” he adds, “you can’t make the right changes unless you have the data.”
How is Health2Sync Different From Other Diabetes Apps?
Health2Sync makes it easy to track and make sense of a user’s data. It keeps all the data in one place and displays it in an easily digestible form. Most importantly, unlike apps such as Glooko and MySugr, Health2Sync allows diabetics to make that data available to their entire care team whether it’s a family member, school nurse, a primary care doctor, or a specialty clinic. This makes it easier for users and their care team to see patterns and trends in their blood sugar levels.
It also has a smart cable to help automate data collection from a person’s glucometer. Users simply connect the cable from their existing glucometer to their mobile device and the data automatically uploads to the Health2Sync app.
Here’s an example of how the Diary section uses simple icons to input and display various kinds of data that are important for managing diabetes including blood sugar, medication, exercise, and food intake.
The Dashboard provides easy-to-understand visual summaries of data such as blood sugar levels before and after meals.
Finally, the Partners section allows users to securely give care team members access to their data. Just put in the 4-digit access code of a Partner to add them to your team. To stop giving access to one’s data, simply remove the clinic or person from the Partners list. Health2Sync has partnered with over 70 hospitals in Taiwan, including Taichung Veterans General Hospital and one of the largest diabetes clinics in Asia— Neng-Chun Diabetes Clinic.
Health2Sync is also working on exciting analysis features to help users better use and understand their data, such as messages and alerts that remind users to take medication or to restrict certain foods for the day.
Pairing the Health2Sync app with the VSee Home iOS Kit gives you the ability to have a complete video doctor visit from home or anywhere. This ultra light home iOS Kit includes digital stethoscope, dermascope, blood pressure cuff, finger EKG, and digital stethoscope.
With nearly 400 million people in the world living with diabetes, VSee is proud to take part in Health2Sync’s efforts to bring better diabetes management and education around the world, so more people can live healthier and fuller lives.
A little more about the CEO
Ed Deng is a co-founder and the CEO of Health2Sync. A serial entrepreneur, he diverged from the family profession of practicing medicine. He chose to go into investment banking and eventually started up a messaging platform. However, medicine still runs strong in his blood. Using his start up experiences, he created Health2Sync and is realizing his dream of contributing to the medical community.
