HealthPrize Technologies LLC in Norwalk is expanding to accommodate a staff that is growing with the popularity of its Web-based programs for patients.
The company is relocating from a 2,800-square-foot space at 50 Water St. to 9,800 square feet of space at 20 Marshall St. The move is expected to take place Jan. 17 with the space open for business Jan. 19.
- Tom Kottler
HealthPrize, which began in 2009 with seven employees and consultants, grew to more than 20 employees and consultants this year. Its mission is getting patients to take their medications, with in-house metrics citing an increase of more than 50 percent in refills for patients using the program.
“Right now, we have 20 consultants crawling all over each other,” said Tom Kottler, co-founder of HealthPrize. “We need space to grow and attract new talent. And it”™s a real difficult market for attracting good talent in technology when developers can pick and choose where they work. Having a nice work environment is important for recruiting. We”™ll have open tall ceilings, exposed brick and it”™s just a beautiful space to work in.”
The company, which customizes programs on an online platform that encourages patients to take their medications, uses behavioral modification tactics and even fortune cookie-like facts and trivia questions to earn points for rewards.
Depending on the pharmaceutical company that supplies the platform to their patients, the patients may be eligible to win anything from a $10 gift certificate for Amazon.com or health-related prizes.
“We”™re surprised at how much patients enjoy engaging with quizzes and daily fortunes,” said Katrina Firlik, co-founder and chief medical officer. “Some patients really like checking their status on the leader board, which is all anonymous ”” nobody knows who anyone is ”“ and the thought of knowing that there are other people competing with you.”
HealthPrize has launched six programs to date with 22,000 patients enrolled. It plans to implement five more this year and is working with seven of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies nationwide.
This year, HealthPrize is branching out from selling only to pharmaceutical companies and will do business with insurance companies as well. Interested companies can buy an annual license by providing an upfront customization and implementation fee. The cost is variable depending on the program and sponsor and cost of each program.
- Katrina Firlik
“We”™ve had some variable contracting,” Firlik said. “We had to modify some programs midway. The platform itself has been on the market for the past three years and they”™re starting out in a pilot phase. In health care, the idea of using awards and a game to motivate people to take medication is new and considered pushing the envelope.”
HealthPrize recently announced data that revealed how its product and programs have increased adherence to medication and raised patients”™ engagement. Through the platform, the basic adherence rate for patients increased. The mean prescription fills rate went up by 54 percent.
“We developed a sophisticated prescription retail tracking system ”” most adherence companies out there rely on the patient for self-reporting,” Firlik said. “You might log into an app and say you took the medication, but there”™s no way for companies to validate you”™re on that medication and refilled that medication. We felt it was critical to track and confirm, so with the patient”™s permission, we know when they filled their medications.”
The data also showed one group of diabetic patients presented a mean engagement rate of 5 logins to the platform per week. Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients logged in an average of 7.7 times per week. Across all programs, the average login rate for patients was more than 4 times per week.
Revenues are expected to triple from last year to this year. The company”™s revenue grew 50 percent last year compared with 2013. The company is “not yet profitable,” Kottler said. But it”™s been funded by angel investors. Last August, HealthPrize closed its first round of institutional financing from a private equity firm from Boston, Mansa Capital. It also received funding from West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. in Exton, Pa.
