Want to get pregnant? There’s an app for that. Looking for a new physician? The information is just a click away. Want to improve your health with the input of your doctor? Pretty soon, you’ll be able to do that from your phone, tablet or computer. Meet Kindara, Healthgrades and Datu, three of many Colorado companies revolutionizing the way patients make healthcare decisions.
These companies are part of a seismic shift that is breaking the old information asymmetry – where doctors had all the information and patients had very little – and using data to give patients an easy way to access key facts and gain knowledge for decisions about health. For these tech-savvy, data-heavy companies, it’s more than just eating kale and wearing a Fitbit. They are transforming three of the most important parts about health: getting the right doctor, making better decisions after a medical diagnosis and gaining control over fertility decisions.
Getting pregnant, with the help of your phone
[ibimage==26406==Large==none==self==ibimage_align-center]
Kati Bicknell, co-founder of Boulder-based Kindara realized most women didn't know about fertility tracking - even those who were trying to get pregnant - and that basic knowledge about women's bodies was not taught in schools. For women who wanted to get prognant (or for those who wanted to avoid pregnancy), there weren't any easy tools helping women do this naturally. She saw an opportunity to bring personal fertility information into the hands of would-be-moms.
For Kindara, success is measured by the number of pregnancies they help facilitate: about 500 pregnancies a week and over 10,000 in the past year. Their goal is all about giving women the tools to understand their reproductive system. The free Kindara app – which has more than 250,000 downloads – tracks relevant information about fertility, presenting it to the user in an understandable way. User’s enter over 200,000 data points into the app each week, giving Kindara and moms-to-be plenty of data about their bodies and fertility. Using the app and learning about their bodies, “it’s something that can be life changing for a lot of women,” said Kindara’s Community Manager Courtney Miller.
Kindara loves getting feedback from the women that use the app and hopes to expand beyond pregnancies into all stages of reproductive health. The nature of their product means they aren’t tied to an American audience. The app has been downloaded in over 134 countries, but the biggest markets are in the US and UK. The four-person team is growing, with four open positions and two internships listed on their website.
