The Alere Home Monitoring Program works by placing the patented DayLink(R) monitor in a patient's home to track objective and symptomatic information on the patient, such as daily weight and shortness of breath. Using the patient's regular phone line, the information is transmitted automatically, 24 hours a day, to Alere's proprietary database attended by cardiac-trained nurses.
PROJECT INVOLVEMENT
Industrial Design
Photo Realistic Renderings
Human Factors
Engineering
A NOTE from the designer
This project was brought to me by Alere with a major exterior design issue. This unit had been redesigned by another agency. What other agency designed, engineered, and created working prototypes of (for end user testing) was a modern day consumer electronics product that looked like the FUTURE. The problem was that they did not take the end user into account - 60 to 90 year old patients with little knowledge of technology.
This is what I created and it was an amazing project to take on as a young designer. It helped shape my design thinking around truly understanding the FOR WHO in every project thereafter. A rectangular box with subtle curves, large bezel that allows text to be centered for maximum readability, large intuitive buttons, YES and NO tactile buttons with braille added, and a side mounted VOL rotary knob with white/black MAX contrast (not the prettiest feature, but effective) are the key features.
The nurses analyze trends that may indicate a change in the patient's health status, contact the patient to review their condition and, if indicated, notify the treating physician. The need for clinical intervention therefore can be assessed by the physician and, when necessary, escalated prior to serious episodes that could result in emergency room visits or hospitalization. In addition, daily monitoring allows for real-time nurse-provided education at the point when a patient needs it most. It reinforces the connection between behavior, symptoms and hospitalizations.
Alere's executive vice president and Chief Medical Officer
"We believe our in-home remote monitoring program is the best solution for positively influencing the health and lifestyle of individuals with chronic conditions like heart failure."
Ryan