Altron HealthTech on Wednesday announced the pilot launch of South Africa’s first oncology companion app, ThriveLink, a boon for the advancement of useable, personalised, consumer-oriented health-tech on the African continent.
ThriveLink is South Africa’s first platform to connect patients, doctors, caregivers, and medical schemes in one integrated digital space. The oncology companion app is designed to help cancer patients flourish during a trying time by providing seamless care coordination, access to key information and educational content and removal of administrative obstacles.
Altron HealthTech said the development team was inspired to create ThriveLink after frontline agents logged an alarming increase in cancer diagnoses. Cancer cases in South Africa are projected to nearly double from 62 000 in 2019 to 121 000 nationally by 2030 based on data compiled by the SA Journal of Oncology, driven by an aging population and increased lifestyle risks.
Altron HealthTech is a technology company specialising in digital healthcare solutions for the healthcare and corporate wellness industries.
Altron HealthTech managing director Leslie Moodley said, “We’ve built this tool with the ultimate goal of making life easier for cancer patients to be empowered throughout managing their treatment journey.
“They’ll receive appointment tracking, medication reminders, and secure communication with their care team – all customised for their unique treatment plan in one digital space – so they can focus on what matters most: their health and wellbeing,” he said.
“We have insight into anonymised and aggregated data, and were shocked at the increase in cancer volumes,” said Moodley. “We realised there was value in developing a tool that could span the entire healthcare value chain and all the various touchpoints, to solve for a very real issue. This insight sparked a critical question: how can we make it easier for oncologists, our key stakeholders, to focus on what matters most – patient care? “
ThriveLink brings together data from specialists, medical aids, pharmacies, and other relevant sources to coordinate care to connect healthcare providers. Beyond appointment tracking and medication reminders, the app offers educational content, emotional support tools, and secure communication channels.
“The solution enables these data points to collaborate in a technical sense to coordinate care,” said Moodley. “Our response was to build a technology-driven platform that not only streamlines authorisations and treatment protocols but also enables real-time interoperability. This empowers oncologists to coordinate care more efficiently, track treatment pathways, and adapt plans based on patient-specific outcomes. Patients won’t have to worry about burdensome details and will get reminded when it’s time to take their medication or schedule a follow-up.”
Altron HealthTech said it had consulted widely with oncologists, patients, and other medical professionals before beginning development. A base application was rolled out to specialists about a year ago, and feedback from that pilot informed the expanded platform now ready for patient testing.
It said the app has been built on secure, cloud-based software-as-a-service architecture in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act and all relevant regulatory requirements. Patients must provide informed consent before signing up.
Altron HealthTech said beyond supporting patients directly, ThriveLink is designed to help control healthcare costs. Cancer is among the most expensive therapeutic burdens, with the Cancer Alliance having predicted that this disease will cost the public sector an additional R50 billion between 2020 and 2030.
“By streamlining processes and integrating claims, authorisations, and clinical data, we remove duplication and costs from the system,” said Moodley. “This can indirectly help keep medical aid premiums down, benefiting all medical scheme patients.”
Altron HealthTech said it is in early-stage discussions with medical aid schemes interested in integrating the app into their mobile solutions.
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