Guidepost, SA healthtech chatbot launches to enhance diabetes well being outcomes

South African healthtech startup Guidepost has offered an AI-powered chatbot to assist South Africans residing with diabetes higher handle their situation. One in 9 South Africans are affected by diabetes, which can also be the primary killer of girls and the second reason behind dying within the nation. Day by day self-management is vital to manage diabetes and forestall devastating medical problems. But many individuals battle to manage.

To help with this dilemma, the brand new Guidepost chatbot helps sufferers by offering data particular to their distinctive challenges in a steady and customised method together with personalised teaching. It additionally connects sufferers with Guidepost’s diabetes educators (coaches), who’re skilled nurses accredited in diabetes training. Many medical schemes in SA, together with Discovery Well being, cowl two consultations with a diabetes educator a 12 months.

Guidepost CEO, Graham Rowe, says “Over a number of years, we captured the non-public ache factors of 1000’s of sufferers – the place and why they battle, in addition to what customised interventions helped them higher handle their diabetes. This knowledge knowledgeable the event of our chatbot, which makes use of AI instruments to automate advanced judgements within the administration of diabetes.”

Uncontrolled diabetes sees glucose ranges fluctuate and run too excessive on a steady foundation, which causes severe, expensive and devastating medical problems together with blindness, kidney failure, coronary heart illness and limb amputations.

To keep away from such penalties, Guidepost’s diabetes educators make clever use of the knowledge from the bot to tell their choices once they present recommendation. The info permits them to observe sufferers’ ranges on an ongoing foundation. Guidepost’s providing is aligned with different diabetes administration applied sciences, corresponding to steady glucose monitoring units, aiding its coaches to focus on their assist.

Professor David Segal, Chief Medical Officer of Guidepost, says, “Medical doctors and clinicians should not in a position to micromanage their sufferers with diabetes day by day. That is the hole that Guidepost is addressing to assist sufferers and enhance their well being outcomes. We offer sufferers with the instruments and knowledge they should make higher decisions and higher handle their diabetes.”

Optimistic outcomes

When glucose ranges are secure and inside regular ranges, individuals residing with diabetes are in a position to dwell wholesome and productive lives.

“Primarily based on our preliminary rollout to observe uptake, our chatbot has seen the three-month common glucose ranges of greater than 2,000 sufferers drop to inside regular ranges,” says Rowe. “Which means that we are able to now lengthen the answer’s presence throughout South Africa. The bot has confirmed itself in that our coaches now have the instruments at their fingertips to work a lot quicker.”

Guidepost’s affected person base continues to develop by 15% each month with 2.1M affected person knowledge factors now collected and built-in into AI fashions by Guidepost. Over 304,000 diabetes interventions (e.g. begin exercising, measure blood glucose and so forth.) have been agreed between coaches and sufferers. 

Rowe provides that the corporate goals to increase its partnerships, regionally in addition to globally, by way of extending the bot’s availability by partnering with life insurers, medical insurers, pharmacy chains and machine makers.

“Diabetes applied sciences are quick catching up with the exploding diabetes disaster. These embrace units, improved medicines, and technology-enabled options to assist sufferers higher handle their persistent situation. We’re excited to be a part of this know-how development that’s already bettering well being outcomes for individuals residing with diabetes,” says Rowe.

Associated