Q: What proportion of the 17.3 million people suffering from cardiovascular conditions worldwide does Mexico represent?

CS: Approximately 5 million people have some type of cardiovascular condition in Mexico. Between 20-40 percent of them are aware of their problem with an even smaller percentage treating the disease. The remaining population is vulnerable to cardiac arrest. In 2015, heart disease came second to diabetes as the most common cause of death in Mexico. Although our strategy is focused on patients, MDs also benefit from our products because the incurred investment is far lower than market average. Our devices are US$3,000 to US$6,000 cheaper than our competitors’ products, lowering clients’ expenses. The usual checkup price is MX$1,000-3,000 in private institutions and waiting times in public hospitals are excessive. This, coupled with poor-quality and scarce infrastructure, reduces the long-term effectiveness of treatment. This allows public institutions to make large purchases of MyHeart electrocardiograms servicing patients in public institutions.

Q: How do you hope trends will move to reduce chronic diseases in Mexico?

CS: Lack of information has hindered Mexico’s cultural shift toward prevention. Our products offer almost immediate data to patients regarding their health allowing them to seek treatment quicker. This improves their treatment success rate. Heart attacks happen without warning, and patients have a 50 percent chance of survival. Even if they survive the organ suffers irreversible damage that will need monitoring. Through prevention campaigns, and government subsidies we can put an end to this. Fortunately, we are slowly starting to see some changes in prevention trends. More people are monitoring their weight because of health concerns and the number of products monitoring physical activity, such as Smartbands, is on the rise.

Q: What role should the government take to ensure service availability to treat heart problems?

CS: An array of prevention programs must be put in place to decrease incident numbers. However, equipment costs continue to be the main reason behind the problem. Federal budget allocation has been reduced resulting in supply scarcity.

OS: MyHeart’s main goal is to help doctors understand this problem, and adapt to new technologies. Veteran MDs are reluctant, and even afraid of using newly available technology such as mobile applications that are part of the new digital health era. Our main goal is to create accessible devices providing coverage for both private and public hospitals.

Q: How does MyHeart ensure the data it gathers is the highest quality for the lowest price?

CS: The components used in our products are medical grade quality. A team of cardiologists and physicians as well as engineers specializing in biomedicine supports our operations. Finally, we hold on-the-field trials in multiple hospitals, and public and private clinics. This helps us gather opinions from many cardiologists and adapt our product to their recommendations. R&D plays an important role in ensuring accessible costs. We only apply what the market demands. Moreover, MyHealth has a twoway encryption mechanism that secures all data gathered in the mobile application. We strive to protect our clients at all times.

Q: How has your business model developed?

OS: We are in the earliest stages of acquiring funds to commercialize our product soon. We plan to launch our solution in 2016. We foresee MyHeart products being used in many ambulances, and hospitals further along the road. We have previous experience in Class 2 product releases complying with COFEPRIS’ previous regulations. Nowadays, the NOM-240, NOM-241 and NOM-137 have undergone changes, and our device has adapted accordingly. MyHeart’s is waiting for COFEPRIS’ good practices audit that will result in future certifications. Considering a standardization process between COFEPRIS’ NOM-241 and the FDA is underway we also expect to be granted access to the US market.