We were very excited that our Bant app was nominated in the list of Top 10 World Congress mHealth Innovation Entrepreneurs. Being awarded the ‘People’s Choice Award’ at the event in the face of such innovative and cutting-edge competition was an unexpected surprise which has left us thrilled and motivated to continue our efforts towards impactful mHealth research.
mHealth Congress Press Release included below.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Bruce Hickman, 781-939-2592 bruce.hickman@wchnet.com or
Mark Stevens, 484.653.8571 mark.stevens@worldcongress.comTen leading mHealth innovators pitched audience at July 25th inaugural World Congress mHealth Innovation Conference in Boston, Canadian start-up Bant won “People’s Choice” award Boston, MA, – August 2, 2012 -Selected from nearly four dozen applications submitted from across the United States and Canada by specially-formed advisory committee of mHealth innovation thought leaders, 10 mHealth start-up companies each presented at the inaugural World Congress mHealth Innovation Exchange Conference at the Colonnade Hotel in Back Bay, Boston. Following the presentations, an audience of over 100 health IT leaders voted for their top pick in a “People’s Choice” Competition. Canadian start-up Bant, a mHealth application for diabetes management developed at the University Health Network in Toronto, won the award. Among the leading healthcare organizations represented were Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois; Boston Children’s Hospital; Denver Health; Geisinger Health System; HLM Venture Partners; KBT Partners; Partners Health Care/Center for Connected Health; Qualcomm Life Fund; and the Visiting Nurses Association of New York. Other entrepreneurs presenting included Aidin, Ayogo Games, BettrLife Corporation, Inquisit Health, One Doc Way, RxApps, SensiMAT, SwipeSense and Zeel.
“The innovation acceleration achieved what it set out to do,” said Mark Stevens, Senior Director for eHealth Innovation at World Congress, “by not only showcasing cutting-edge solutions, but educating our audience on the changing mHealth marketplace, and facilitating mHealth commercial collaboration between entrepreneurs providers, payors and private equity organizations from across North America.”
Dr. Joseph Cafazzo represented Bant and heads up the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation at Toronto General Hospital where the app was created. Of the competition, Cafazzo said “The conference was attended by some of the most noted experts and policy makers in the field. The quality of the entrepreneur finalists indicated to me how far mHealth has come recently; these are creative, innovative companies that are well-backed. It’s an honor to have been selected from among such a strong group.”
The event arrived amid a new wave of interest and funding for mHealth and eHealth. The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) has introduced its Investing in Innovation (i2) Initiative to accelerate innovation nationwide. The Center for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) Innovation Center also recently announced the first round of grants in its $1 billion innovation initiative to support health transformation projects across the country.
About Bant
Bant is the next generation of diabetes management for patient self-care. It frees patients from the dependence on institutional care, cumbersome diabetes technology, and facilitates decision making on the management of their condition. It also pushes the envelope on new modes of self-care, including social media for support, gamification for behavior modification, and simple wireless transfer of blood glucose readings from the patients’ personal meters. All of this is saved in a secure personal health record, Microsoft HealthVault. Another first for a diabetes management app. bantapp.ca
About World Congress Leadership Summits
The World Congress Leadership Summit Series addresses the most cutting-edge issues for health care executives across a wide range of industry sectors. Designed to expand on topics discussed at invitation-only summits during the World Health Care Congress, this series offers new perspectives on established methodologies, and details solutions to foster innovation and change. For more information, please visit www.worldcongress.com
