Author: Maja

SAN DIEGO and WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Lucia, a leader in health AI and patient engagement solutions, and the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), the international leader in science, education, and advocacy for cardiac arrhythmia professionals and patients, today announced a strategic collaboration to leverage Lucia’s cutting-edge technology to enhance UpBeat.org, HRS’ premier online resource for patients and caregivers. The atrial fibrillation (AFib) focused AI enhancements will be pilot tested with feedback from patients, caregivers, and clinicians under the direction of electrophysiologist Mehak Dhande, MD from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

HRS’ UpBeat.org serves as a vital platform connecting patients and healthcare providers with reliable resources and tools for managing chronic heart rhythm conditions such as AFib. This collaboration aims to integrate Lucia’s advanced conversational generative AI agent into UpBeat.org to enhance patient education and improve clinical outcomes. Since launching in 2019, UpBeat.org has served more than 1,400,000 site visitors from around the world by providing heart rhythm disorder information, education, and tools.

The BMS-Pfizer Alliance, a longstanding advocate for advancing healthcare innovation, is supporting the development of this groundbreaking collaboration. Their support underscores the shared commitment to improving patient experiences and outcomes through technology-driven solutions.

“We are excited to join forces with HRS to bring the Lucia Health Coach capabilities to UpBeat.org,” said Dr. GilAnthony Ungab, Lucia’s Chief Medical Officer. “By integrating our AI-powered platform with UpBeat.org, we aim to empower patients with the tools and knowledge they need to take control of their health.”

“The integration of Lucia into UpBeat.org aligns perfectly with our mission to provide innovative resources for patients and healthcare providers,” said Dr. Kenneth A. Ellenbogen, MD, FHRS, Heart Rhythm Society President. “We are grateful for the support from the BMS-Pfizer Alliance, which makes this vision a reality.”

This integration will deliver personalized health coaching tailored to individual patient needs while providing access to trusted resources for managing their chronic conditions. The pilot phase, sponsored by the BMS-Pfizer Alliance, is set to begin shortly, with full-scale implementation to follow based on its success.

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Pilot study testing innovative agent designed to provide guideline-concordant education believed to be the first clinical study to evaluate an AI Agent with actual AFib patients

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ – Lucia Health Guidelines announces the enrollment of the first eight subjects in a clinical study to assess the effectiveness of Lucia Health Coach, the company’s proprietary generative AI Agent, to improve education and support for people with atrial fibrillation (AFib). The study, “Patient Perceived Empathy of an AI Chatbot for Atrial Fibrillation Education” (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT06684457), focuses on enhancing patient understanding, empathy and adherence to treatment plans.

This single-site pilot study at a leading U.S. medical center will investigate how a digital health solution rooted in evidence-based guidelines can deliver empathetic and tailored education for patients managing the challenges of AFib. Some of the most critical issues facing these patients are delayed referral to an electrophysiologist and poor medication adherence, both of which are serious problems that heighten the importance of education in fostering behavioral change and improving outcomes. By combining cutting-edge technology with trusted clinical insight, Lucia Health Coach seeks to bridge critical gaps in patient understanding and support while enhancing treatment adherence and clinical outcomes. Lucia Health Coach is designed to provide patients with a personalized, empathetic experience while ensuring they receive the most accurate and reliable information.

“Enrolling subjects in this pilot study is a major step forward for those afflicted by AFib and for our company. Indeed, we believe this is the first clinical study evaluating an AI Agent with actual AFib patients,” said GilAnthony Ungab, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Co-founder of Lucia Health Guidelines. “Healthcare providers often struggle to provide ongoing patient education and support due to limited resources, which contributes to poor adherence to medical guidelines. Lucia Health Coach is designed to empower patients by addressing critical gaps in education and support. We’re excited to learn from this study as we advance our mission to provide real-time, guideline-based treatment starting with AFib and the prevention of stroke.”

Dr. Ungab added: “A key advantage of the Lucia Health Coach AI Agent is its access to Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) guidelines and HRS-curated patient education material for training. This not only ensures the platform provides trusted, physician-approved information, but also enhances credibility while providing patients with up-to-date advice that’s aligned with best practices. Lucia’s generative AI Agent explains treatment options and empowers patients to manage their condition more effectively, providing simple fifth grade-level answers with multilingual capabilities, thus making patient education accessible and inclusive for all. In time, we expect that the Lucia Health Coach AI Agent will integrate within hospital workflows and become a much-needed daily patient assistant.”

AFib is a chronic condition that affects millions of people worldwide, including about six million in the U.S., a number expected to double to 12.1 million by 2030. Among the most critical issues facing these patients is poor treatment adherence, particularly to blood thinners. About 50-60% of AFib patients are prescribed blood thinners, but only 50% of them have adequate adherence, significantly increasing the risk of strokes and other complications.

This single-center, cross-sectional, open-label pilot study will evaluate how effectively Lucia Health Coach AI Agent conveys empathy and trust while helping patients learn about AFib management, from understanding their condition to exploring treatment options, lifestyle adjustments and referral pathways. By leveraging AI alongside content derived from trusted HRS guidelines, the platform aims to transform patient engagement and improve health outcomes at scale. The study is expected to enroll 40 subjects with final data collected for the primary endpoint in June 2025.

Lucia AFib App outperforms standard of care in prospective pilot study

San Diego, September 21, 2023 — Lucia Health Guidelines, a company applying machine learning at the point of care in the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AFib), today announced that its first prospective study was nominated Top 5 abstracts at 2023 HRX AbstracX.

The abstract, “Point of Care AI Driven ER2EP Referrals for Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation Patients in the Emergency Department,” looked at the feasibility of using a point-of-care mobile application to improve guideline-consistent treatment of AFib in the emergency department, direct referral pathway to electrophysiology (EP) outpatient, and outcomes. Lucia’s machine learning algorithm allows non-cardiology clinicians to detect AFib on an electrocardiogram (ECG), initiate guideline-recommended treatment, and refer patients to practitioners that can manage their AFib longer-term.

Results found that the Lucia AFib App offered guideline-consistent treatment recommendations in 100% of the 22 patients in the intervention group, while 77.3% of those patients received direct EP referrals. A total of 12 of the 22 (54%) intervention patients received an AFib procedure versus zero (0%) for the control group. Lastly, while not statistically significant, the intervention group saw 4% readmission versus 11% for the control group.

About Lucia Health Guidelines

Lucia Health Guidelines is a medical technology company creating clinical decision support tools for the point of care. Lucia is committed to using technology to improve guideline-based care in an effort to close gaps and improve health equity. Trained by leading cardiac electrophysiologists, Lucia’s machine learning algorithm allows any clinician to confidently confirm atrial fibrillation on electrocardiogram in order to initiate care.

Contact
Mathew Rothway
mathew@luciaguidelines.com

Lucia CEO, Mathew Rothway, and CMO, Dr. Gil Ungab, will be attending HRX in-person this year. If you are attending in person, let’s connect! If you are attending remotely, we would still love to give you an update from HRX on exciting news from Lucia.

Let’s connect

Awardees Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences of the Keck School of Medicine, Emory University, and Lucia Health Guidelines recognized for their data-driven approaches for promoting health equity

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Nov. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today Johnson & Johnson Innovation, LLC, together with Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, named Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, the Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences of the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Emory University and Lucia Health Guidelines awardees of the Decoding Disparities QuickFire Challenge at the Reuter’s Total Health Summit.

“For communities of color in the United States, we understand that health disparities may take many forms, including higher rates of chronic disease, increased burden of illness, and significant barriers to accessing care,” shared Anastasia G. Daifotis, M.D, Chief Scientific Officer, Janssen North America Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC.  “For this reason, we were proud to launch this QuickFire Challenge to inspire and help advance research that could pave the way for more equitable healthcare and improved health outcomes.”

Each Awardee of this QuickFire Challenge is attempting to inspire and advance data-driven methodologies or technologies with the potential to better detect, understand, or reduce health disparities.  For example:

• Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers aims to promote continuity of care for individuals with mental health needs who present in the emergency department by developing the capacity to collect, analyze, and report data on the social and systemic barriers these individuals face.
• Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California aims to develop an innovative approach to delivering community mental health services through embedded counseling within a cultural center for Black collegians.
• A team from Emory University aims to create a social determinants of health (SDOH) insight score using novel, but widely available data, that can be linked to patient electronic health records (EHR). The score will be used to improve a provider’s ability to tailor clinical recommendations for optimal management of patients with cardiovascular conditions.
• Lucia Health Guidelines has created an AI and cloud-based clinical decision support tool that has the potential to detect and treat atrial fibrillation at the point of care.

The challenge invited applications from innovators working on research methodologies, tools, or technologies applied in therapeutic areas of interest to the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson with special focus on: Mental Health, Cardiovascular Disease, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Specific considerations included the integration of population health data to identify gaps within communities of color and provide actionable insights to inform interventions to address barriers to equitable access to health care across the patient journey.

To help advance their research, the awardees will receive a combined total of $600,000 in grant funding, access to the global Johnson & Johnson Innovation—JLABS network, and mentorship from experts at the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies¹.

“We received exceptional responses from entrepreneurs, academics, and researchers for the Decoding Disparities QuickFire Challenge. The applicants showed ingenuity, submitting many data-driven approaches designed to address the root causes of health inequities,” said Melinda Richter, Global Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS². “We are excited to work closely with the four awardees to help scale their ideas and deliver potential breakthrough solutions for traditionally underserved communities.”

An independent panel evaluated and selected the awardees using a criteria that included uniqueness, feasibility, and generalizability of the idea; thoroughness of approach; ability to collect and analyze factors driving disparities that could potentially inform strategies and tactics that improve health outcomes in racial/ethnic groups and underserved populations; potential measurable impact of data integration, analytics, and patient engagement to improve population health outcomes both immediately and in the long-term; and alignment to the areas of strategic focus and expertise for the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

Johnson & Johnson Innovation has developed the QuickFire Challenge platform with the aim to help enable potential groundbreaking science and health solutions by encouraging students, entrepreneurs, researchers, and start-up companies to tackle some of the world’s most challenging problems in healthcare.

For more information about the QuickFire Challenges, please visit: https://jlabs.jnjinnovation.com/quickfire-challenges.

About Johnson & Johnson Innovation 

Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC works across the pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer health sectors to accelerate early-stage, transformational solutions by catalyzing the best ideas, wherever they are in the world. We do this by harnessing our deep scientific capabilities coupled with a wide range of tools, including customized deal structures, company creation, incubation and startup services, capital investments and other innovative business models that aim to meet the diverse needs of entrepreneurs, scientists and emerging companies. Our goal is to help life science and health technology innovations thrive through collaboration and partnership with the global ecosystem, so that together we can change the trajectory of human health. Meet our passionate team of science and technology experts and learn how to collaborate with us at www.jnjinnovation.com.

About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

At Janssen, we’re creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We’re the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular & Metabolism, Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Neuroscience, Oncology, and Pulmonary Hypertension. Learn more at www.janssen.com. Follow us at @JanssenGlobal.

Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 related to the award announcement of the Decoding Disparities QuickFire Challenge. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC and/or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the potential that the expected benefits and opportunities related to the collaboration may not be realized or may take longer to realize than expected; challenges inherent in new product development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and obtaining regulatory approvals; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; uncertainty of commercial success for new products; the ability of the company to successfully execute strategic plans; impact of business combinations and divestitures; challenges to patents; changes in behavior and spending patterns or financial distress of purchasers of health care products and services; and global health care reforms and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnson’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2021, including in the sections captioned “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” and in the company’s most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the company’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC and/or Johnson & Johnson do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments.

¹ Subject to the execution of the necessary agreements and documentation
² Melinda Richter is employed by Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC

Original article:

Johnson & Johnson Innovation Announces Awardees of the Decoding Disparities QuickFire Challenge

Lucia CEO, Mat Rothway, and CMO, Gil Ungab, will be attending ACEP’s Annual Scientific Assembly in-person this year. If you are attending in person, let’s connect!. If you are attending remotely, we would still love to give you an update from ACEP on exciting news from Lucia.

More information:

Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures and Village Capital launched their first accelerator focused on culturally competent care this summer. Two startups were each awarded $100,000: Omaiven Health and Lucia Health Guidelines.
Omaiven Health and Lucia Health Guidelines will each get $100,000 in grant funding from Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures.

Both are part of an accelerator launched this year by J&J and Village Capital focused on culturally competent care. They were picked for the award by their peers, after being evaluated for eight criteria and being deemed “most investment ready,” Village Capital Investment Analyst Bryson Hearne said in a Zoom interview.

Omaiven Health and Lucia Health Guidelines will each get $100,000 in grant funding from Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures.

Both are part of an accelerator launched this year by  J&J and Village Capital focused on culturally competent care. They were picked for the award by their peers, after being evaluated for eight criteria and being deemed “most investment ready,” Village Capital Investment Analyst Bryson Hearne said in a Zoom interview.

Here’s what they’re working on, and how they plan to use the funds:

Omaiven Health

Austin, Texas-based Omaiven Health’s software helps clinics automate internal workflows and patient-facing tasks, such as scheduling. Jerold McDonald founded the company in 2018 after spending his career in healthcare, most recently serving as director of onboarding for Athenaheath. His goal was to ensure community health centers, which care for many low-income and uninsured patients, and small practices could have the same level of access as their larger health system peers.

“Fundamentally (clinics) want to provide more access to patients, but they don’t necessarily have all of the staff or the means to be able to do this 24/7 in multiple languages,” he said. “Our solution fits in right next to the call center or the front desk staff and is able to allow them to extend that reach into the community.”

Lucia Health Guidelines

San Francisco-based Lucia Health Guidelines has developed software to diagnose and treat patients with atrial fibrillation. While much of the buzz has been around features in flashy wearables to to detect potential AFib cases, Lucia Health is focused on helping clinicians at hospitals diagnose patients and ensuring they are safely discharged with appropriate treatment.

Dr. GilAnthony Ungab, the startup’s co-founder and chief medical officer, became a cardiac electrophysiologist after his father had a stroke when he was young. He named the company after his mom.

When he became a medical director at his local hospital, “I kept hearing code stroke moreso than code heart attack,” he said. “Because of my family’s experience, because of my father’s experience, I got my friends together and we worked on a way to improve getting patients treated.”

The idea is that most strokes caused by AFib could be prevented with the appropriate treatment, such as anticoagulants. But in Ungab’s community, near the border in San Diego, most patients who had been diagnosed with AFib weren’t taking anything for it.

Lucia’s system is designed to help ER clinicians, who might not have training in cardiology, diagnose patients with AFib based on their EKG reading. It also helps with the care transition after that patient leaves the hospital, ensuring they have a follow-up appointment.

The startup recently published results of a single-site, retrospective study in the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians, finding that its app detected 97.6% of atrial fibrillation cases, performing better than ED physicians. It also recommended anticoagulants more frequently.

Ungab plans to use the funds to run a prospective study of Lucia’s technology.

To view original article on MedCity News:
Meet the two picks from J&J and Village Capital’s culturally competent care accelerator