AGA Launches New Patient App to Aid in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Monitoring and Education

BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) today announced the launch of My IBD Manager, a new digital patient resource developed for the 1.6 million Americans living with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and the doctors who treat them. This will be followed by the launch of an online clinical platform for health care professionals, Ask AGA: IBD, powered by the innovative IBM Watson^® natural language technology. AGA developed this program in collaboration with @Point of Care and StayWell with exclusive support of Janssen Biotech, Inc. (Janssen).

The My IBD Manager patient app and Ask AGA: IBD clinical platform will work together through information-sharing capabilities to enhance the health care provider/patient relationship and simplify the complexities of finding IBD-related resources, while providing a one-stop-shop for patients to learn about IBD, monitor their disease and share information with their health care provider that result in better health outcomes.

"Understanding and monitoring symptoms is a significant challenge, and people living with IBD are often faced with an over-abundance of resources," said James Lord, MD, PhD, AGA medical advisor for My IBD Manager and Ask AGA: IBD. "Our goal is to support patients in better understanding their IBD symptoms, and in communicating the full scope of their experiences with their health care providers. The patient application couples helpful IBD-related information and resources from AGA with tools that guide patients through monitoring the various ways that IBD may impact their lives."

Tools and features for patients via My IBD Manager include:

• Treatment tracker to help monitor dosing and schedule of treatment and/or supplements.
• Symptom tracker to help stay on top of pain and progress.
• Food log for tracking diet and nutrition.
• Journaling capabilities to monitor daily fatigue, moods, ability to keep social plans and well-being.
• Expert-reviewed, easy-to-read patient education on IBD-related topics, such as wellness and pregnancy with IBD, including new content developed for the app.
• Gamification that awards points for consistent use.

Bringing together patients and physicians through the two digital offerings, participating doctors can access automatically generated charts from patient-entered data, enhancing their sense of a patient's experience to inform treatment decisions and disease management. A forthcoming care team feature will further extend the patient-physician engagement, allowing patients to link the entire application up with their physicians, granting full access to all information.

"Through our decades-long commitment to people living with IBD, we understand the unpredictability and challenges they face on a daily basis, both physically and emotionally," said Tara Muzsi, Director of Gastroenterology Marketing, Janssen. "Partnering with the AGA to support the My IBD Manager patient app and Ask AGA: IBD clinician platform, which leverages the latest artificial intelligence (AI) technology coupled with the expertise of the AGA, supports our goal of fostering better patient-physician partnerships and is a natural complement to the therapies we offer to manage inflammatory bowel disease."

The My IBD Manager and Ask AGA: IBD platform were produced in a collaborative effort between @Point of Care, a practice-based tool delivering content to clinicians, AGA and StayWell, the largest provider of patient and consumer health education in the United States. The My IBD Manager application is free for individuals living with IBD and is now available in the Apple App Store^® and will soon be available for Android devices. AGA members will be able to access the Ask AGA: IBD online destination upon launch in February through the AGA website, www.gastro.org. Janssen is the exclusive sponsor of the IBD Resource Center.

About the AGA Institute
The American Gastroenterological Association is the trusted voice of the GI community. Founded in 1897, the AGA has grown to include 17,000 members from around the globe who are involved in all aspects of the science, practice and advancement of gastroenterology. The AGA Institute administers the practice, research, and educational programs of the organization. www.gastro.org. Follow AGA on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies 
At the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, we are working to create a world without disease. Transforming lives by finding new and better ways to prevent, intercept, treat and cure disease inspires us. We bring together the best minds and pursue the most promising science. We are Janssen. We collaborate with the world for the health of everyone in it. Learn more at www.janssen.com. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JanssenUS or https://twitter.com/JanssenGlobal.

About @Point of Care
@Point of Care is dedicated to creating innovative clinical decision support tools that better connect patients, caregivers and clinicians, and also provide a means to analyze and share data to encourage shared decision-making.  Currently used by more than 200,000 clinicians, the @Point of Care platform is powered by IBM Watson's cognitive, machine learning technology to provide streamlined, mobile tools for clinicians to obtain content when it is needed at the point of care - enabling better decisions, better outcomes and potentially better care.  With the addition of patient-facing apps focused on different medical conditions, clinicians can now assess patient-reported data when determining treatment options for their patients. To learn more about @Point of Care, visit www.atpointofcare.com.   

About StayWell
StayWell is a health solutions company that uses the science of behavior change to help people live happier, healthier lives. StayWell brings decades of experience working across the health care industry to design solutions for improving individual and organizational health outcomes, managing the health of targeted populations, and creating brand engagement for employers and health care organizations. StayWell programs have received numerous top industry honors, including the C. Everett Koop National Health Award and the Web Health Award for health engagement programs. StayWell also has received URAC and NCQA accreditation for several of its programs. StayWell is majority-owned by Healthcare Services & Solutions, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA ("Merck"). The company is headquartered in Yardley, PA, and also has a major location in St. Paul, MN. To learn more, visit http://www.staywell.com or connect with StayWell on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.

SOURCE American Gastroenterological Association

Related Links

http://www.gastro.org