OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Archimedes IndiGO — the physician and patient decision-support tool created by  Archimedes, Inc. — was chosen last summer as the risk-assessment engine for the new $100,000 mobile app challenge sponsored by the Office of the National Coordinator. As part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Million Hearts™ "Risk Check Challenge," the ONC invited developers to create a mobile app that would help consumers take a heart-health risk assessment, direct them to health-screening locations in their community, and use the results to work with their doctor to develop a plan for improving their heart health.

The winning mobile app was developed by Wisconsin's Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation. Archimedes IndiGO is the app's risk-assessment engine.

"The announcement of Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation's Heart Health Mobile app represents a new era of consumer information and access to powerful health care data," said David Eddy, MD, PhD, co-founder of Archimedes.  "For years Archimedes has been developing quantitative methods for analyzing health care decisions at the individual and population levels. The launch of this new app will provide consumers with convenient access to our IndiGO solution in a format that is easy to use and understand."

IndiGO is derived from the Archimedes Model, a large-scale, clinically realistic, trial-validated, mathematical model of diseases, individuals, populations and health care systems. In the new Heart Health app, IndiGO is used to analyze person-specific information entered by the individual and then calculate his or her risk of heart attack or stroke. While this is the first time that IndiGO has been adapted to an application programming interface format (a protocol that enables software components to communicate with each other) for use by consumers, IndiGO has been deployed in communities across the country for use by physicians at the point-of-care.

"We at Kaiser Permanente believe that good health belongs to everyone and we are pleased to share this technology," said Jed Weissberg, MD, senior vice president, Hospitals, Quality and Care Delivery Excellence and chairman of the Archimedes board of directors. "It is wonderful to see Archimedes IndiGO available via API, putting this innovative and potentially life-saving tool into the hands of patients and providers that need it."

The Heart Health iPhone app is available to download from the Apple iTunes store. A web-based (HTML5) responsive design version that works on other devices is expected to be released next month, and the app will soon be available in other languages.

The Million Hearts Initiative, a national public-private collaboration of HHS, is designed to leverage clinical and community prevention strategies to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. 

Archimedes, Inc., a subsidiary and innovation of Kaiser Permanente, is a health care modeling organization which helps people understand the implications of their decisions. For the last 15 years, Archimedes has been relied upon to answer complex, real-world questions for health plans, health systems, medical groups, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and other organizations in the United States and Europe. For more information visit www.archimedesmodel.com.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/newscenter.

Contact:
Mark Camps, Kaiser Permanente, 510-625-5624

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente