VisionQuest Biomedical Inc — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: 350

Description

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Alcohol misuse is a significant public health problem not only in the US but around the world Just in the US alcohol misuse is estimated to be the second cause of preventable death at a cost of more than $ billion in a single year Further it is also estimated that it reduces the lives of those who died by years Screening and brief interventions have proved effective in promoting behavior changes that lead to increased awareness and decreased consumption when properly conducted at the primary care setting However there remain four main barriers that have curtailed broad adoption of screening and brief interventions by primary care lack of access to validated tools lack of training reluctanc to raise the subject to the patient and lack of face time Overcoming these barriers creates a vastly significant clinical public health and commercial opportunity VisionQuest Biomedical and the University of New Mexico have formed a team to develop and test the feasibility of PA MSTM a mobile platform for the delivery of screening and brief interventions for alcohol misuse PA MSTM technical innovation is that it shifts the delivery paradigm from paper and in person delivery to software as a service PA MSTM is not an electronic form only but a complete set of tools that allow electronic communication between patients providers and support groups from screening to brief interventions to follow up care By enabling on demand up to date patient centered screening and brief interventions PA MSTM clinical innovation is that it extends the reach of primary care and facilitates care coordination and decision making In Phase I a prototype PA MSTM will be developed and tested in a primary care setting on patients who will be followed for two months Standard metrics of usability acceptability and user satisfaction will be assessed in order to prove the feasibility of the prototype and plan for an improved version that will be tested in a multi center clinical study in Phase II PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE Alcohol misuse is a major public health problem that represents significant costs in money and lives Conducting screening and brief interventions can help decrease alcohol consumption but there are barriers to adopt these techniques especially in primary care Our project will develop and test PA MSTM a new way to conduct screening and brief interventions that overcomes these barriers using mobile applications and electronic communications