Remote Patient Monitoring a Long-Term Trend and Solution

Q: How did you come to develop the Bionexus monitoring solution?

A: This project was initiated in 2014 as a result of a personal medical need. I went to Mexico City for my residency and my father was sick in Colima. It was difficult for me to make the decision to move away from him, so I created a platform to be able to monitor him. Together with my partner we did scouting of different equipment and started to develop the system in Android and iOS. The goal was to monitor vital signs and oxygen to be able to keep an eye on my dad. 

We watched what was happening in the US, Europe and China in terms of telemedicine and remote patient monitoring. With Obamacare, this industry saw a boom in the US and is now a normal process for over 50 million people with chronic diseases in that country. We adopted this concept for the medical industry in Mexico.

Q: What were the key characteristics that Bionexus incorporated to improve the lives of chronic disease patients?

A: Saying that we monitor vital signs could sound like an all-or-nothing deal. Our value proposition is to concentrate on a single piece of hardware with a system that has the ability to measure blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate, as well as temperature. According to the Official Mexican Norm (NOM), these four variables are the vital signs that must be recorded in every medical evaluation, whether it is for orientation, consultation, hospitalization or surgery. 

Our device also includes oximetry, plethysmography curve  and electrocardiography. We integrate this in a single non-invasive device. All this data is transmitted in real-time through our application. Therefore, it becomes in a natural and genuine way, not only a solution for chronically ill patients, but also for clinical surveillance in any acute medical condition, general hospitalization, intermediate care, post-hospital discharge or post-surgical outpatient care. Speaking of chronic diseases, in Mexico, according to the latest National Health and Nutrition Survey (Ensanut), there are more than 35 million hypertensive patients and it is presumed that there is an equal number of patients who do not know they have hypertension or prehypertension. The chronic diseases in the country cover a wide spectrum and our objective is to monitor them with the same quality as a hospital but remotely. Only 3 percent of the time a patient is in a public or private hospital is monitored. Moreover, when monitored, the process is sometimes inadequate and a great deal of information is lost. 

Q: What makes your device the most suitable option in the market?

A: It took doctors 20 years to adopt electronic medical records. The pandemic has abruptly accelerated digital health services. Patients are already asking for remote consultations, which would not have happened without this crisis. All doctors are now treating more than three patients remotely. Approximately one patient loses two and a half hours in a face-to-face visit with the doctor, according to data from the American Medical Association (AMA). The fact that doctors can now attend patients remotely with a tool like Bionexus is our great added value. We take the best practices from first-world countries and apply them to the medical practice in Mexico. 

Q: What has been the response to Bionexus’ solution from patients and doctors?

A: We have already worked on several projects in the state of Jalisco. At the beginning of the pandemic, we talked to doctors on the frontlines and they all asked us to send them our monitor because they needed it urgently. Our acceptance rate and interest in the product and the platform among doctors have been high. Moreover, our products have all required COFEPRIS and FDA certifications. We have all the elements to offer a reliable, safe and practical product. 

Q: How do you protect the data Bionexus gathers from patients and how do you use it to generate other solutions or identify health trends?

A: The information we collect from patients is extensive. We are already working on projects with AI and machine learning to use big data for the benefit of both patients and Bionexus. We focus on creating innovative and disruptive technologies for the continuous taking of vital signs and electrocardiography to patients in general hospitalization and outpatient care, with real-time transmission and cloud storage. Therefore, these tools will help doctors make better decisions, which in turn will improve the quality of life of every patient. 

Bionexus offers innovative technological solutions for the continuous monitoring of patients’ vital signs during hospitalization and outpatient care. Its technologies provide real-time transmission and cloud storage.