Synthesis technology’: New prevention model?
Disease forecasting tool is constantly updated
BioSignia Inc., a medical technology company based in Chapel Hill, NC, has developed a disease forecasting technology that it claims is superior to a health risk appraisal (HRA) because it is constantly updated, incorporating the latest in medical research.
Employing what it calls synthesis technology,’ BioSignia:
• builds statistical models that forecast the potential for disease onset;
• merges disease risk models to form decision models to assist practitioners and individuals with difficult clinical treatment decisions;
• uses stratification models to look at populations and target risk potential and associated health care costs;
• uses Web-based systems to make the technology accessible over the Internet.
"Our concept was to develop an early warning system that determines one’s chances for having a disease," explains Timothy J. Smith, PhD, president and CEO of BioSignia. "We wanted it to be very comprehensive, incorporating all the latest and best medical information from evidence-based medicine. It would embrace traditional statistics in epidemiology, so it would be scientifically sound. Once we designed the model, we wanted it to provide some type of impetus to make a change — a very compelling report, readily available for user software that can be generated on the Web. Technology allows us to produce reports health care professionals like to use, because it is presented around tests and questions like those they use in the office. It is a good model for the big killers — lung and breast cancers, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, and so forth."
What makes it different
What makes synthesis technology so different? "It takes into account all variables," notes Smith. "Past research such as the Framingham study indicated a critical need: to take old information and new information into a similar structure to create a robust model. That’s what synthesis technology allows us to do: combine current evidence out there into an existing model and not only incorporate it, but show how they correlate with each other. Our patent was awarded on our ability to build these models and correlate new factors with those that have already been studied."
This is what makes synthesis technology different from other disease-forecasting technology. "Morbidity-based models will tell you your chan-ces of dying from certain diseases; ours tells you the chances of contracting it," says Smith. "It includes all evidence-based factors, and allows for real-time updates as soon as the information is published in a respected medical journal. In addition, it follows a very traditional statistical and epidemiological flow: probability theory. And, it focuses on the individual, incorporating a complete set of chemical data."
This model is superior to an HRA, says Smith, not only because it instantaneously incorporates the latest medical study findings, but because it is not self-reported. "With self-reporting, you put your own values in," he explains. "Is the cholesterol level your report current, or two years old? Do you really weigh 210, but are you used to saying you weigh 190? It’s been shown that self-reported values are not as accurate. Our output is very quantitative, making it preferable for following treatment modalities."
Synthesis modeling does not operate in a vacuum, Smith notes. "For example, it definitely could be used in conjunction with the Stages of Change model [Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, and Maintenance]. Once a person is ready to change, they can gain a clear understanding of what their risk level is. The report is very motivational."
Putting theory into practice
BioSignia sends its representatives to a work site, and begins the process with a free analysis of the employee population by age, ethnicity, gender, and so on. Then, comparing its findings to national averages, it determines where the greatest populationwide health risk is. "We tie that with what we know about average costs for these diseases per year, which gives the employer a ballpark figure," says Smith.
If the company wishes, at that point BioSignia will go in and start formally assessing the population. "Then, we get aggregate information and share it with corporate management and the wellness coordinator," Smith says. "They may know how many diabetics they have, but not who they are."
Employees can pre-enroll through their wellness program. Those who have done so receive a physical assessment; blood is drawn and sent away for analysis. All of the results are loaded into a Web site under the employee’s personal identification number.
"The wellness coordinator generates a report, brings the employee in and counsels him, gives him a lesson plan and lifestyle prescriptions," adds Smith. "The walk-away’ is a very nice report on what their risks are, what the risk factors mean, and educational information about specific diseases."
An employee with a PIN and a password can go into the system at any time and access educational information. The company receives an aggregate report on the success of the program.
Just getting started
BioSignia launched its marketing efforts on March 1. It has already signed an agreement with Duke University and Active Health to provide educational modules for 67 diseases. "Participants can go on-line, ask questions, and receive training about specific diseases," Smith observes.
The company has used its model in pilot programs with corporate wellness managers and their employees, and has recently signed an agreement with Brentwood, TN-based LIFESIGNS Inc., a national disease prevention and wellness company, which will use BioSignia’s disease forecasting technology.
Otis A. Plunk, MD, CEO and president of LIFESIGNS, cites "the high-tech nature of their service and the fact that they can take some leading-edge research outcomes and incorporate them" as the main reasons for partnering with BioSignia. "To gain this clinical experience a physician would take months or years — or it might never happen," he notes.
Why not use an HRA? "They [BioSignia] just take more up-to-date information," says Plunk. "HRAs are useful; they’re out long enough that people accept them as valid. But they’re based on information that is a decade old or more. There’s lots and lots of new information out there, but by and large, it’s being ignored."
Plunk has used the model "to a limited degree" for about a month or two. "When we’ve shown the reports to physicians and patients, it has generally left a positive impression," he reports. n
• Timothy Smith, BioSignia Inc., 100 Europa Drive, Suite 599, Chapel Hill, NC 27514. Telephone: (919) 933-2021. Fax: (919) 968-9413.
• Otis Plunk, LIFESIGNS Inc., 105 Westwood Place, Suite 350, Brentwood, TN 37027. Telephone: (615) 371-3000.
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