Intronix Mobile Apps Help Manage Chronic Pain

TORONTO, May15, 2018 – Chronic pain is a common condition with significant physical, psychological, social, and economic impact. The Institute of Medicine estimates that >100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. Conservative estimates suggest that well over US $500 billion per year is spent in the treatment of these pain conditions. This is associated with lost productivity of these individuals and the burden that their suffering engenders for patients and their families.

It is clear that pain is a complex phenomenon and thus requires a multifaceted and multidisciplinary approach. New technologies, such as smartphone Apps, may help close the gap in utilization of these evidence-based treatments. Considering the current literature on pain management, some Apps should be targeted to patients, while others should be targeted to health care professionals.

Patient-facing apps could provide the most benefits. Such apps would seek to engage patients in between traditional outpatient visits and empower them to take a more active role in the management of their ailment, to improve pain relief, to facilitate functioning, and to return to daily living.

Intronix Technologies has designed two software applications to provide tools for doctors to measure and track treatment outcomes, as well as, engage patients as an essential part of their treatment. While these Apps can operate independently, the highest potential is achieved when they interact with each other.

“Quantify PRN”, an Android/IOS App, is designed for the doctor’s office. This web-based App is comprised of a collection of well-known and accepted assessment indexes to measure: Spasticity, Pain, and Capability. These elements can be quantified, graphed, and documented over time. This provides an indication of outcomes measured at the point of treatment.

“Engage PRN” is designed for use by patients at home. This Android/IOS App is designed to help patients document spasticity, pain, and capability using visual scales 0-9. Patients can document anytime, in a well-accepted fashion.

All results are available graphically, and supportive information pertaining to the patient’s documented condition is pushed to their phone, or tablet, to help them monitor, track, and cope with their specific situation. Electronic diaries have been shown to improve compliance and decrease the risk of recall bias. Self-management contributes to better outcomes.

The great power of these two Apps is the synergy that occurs when the doctor’s office is using Quantify PRN, and patients are using Engage PRN. Data collected from the patient’s day-to-day condition can be transferred to the doctor’s App and easily viewed alongside the doctor’s information. This provides both a measure of treatment outcomes as well as incorporating patient engagement data, which are two very important factors needed to improve patient treatment outcomes.

Additionally, doctors can train patients to fill out more extensive questionnaires to increase the value of day-to-day feedback. These questionnaires can be selected and specifically activated on the patient’s Engage PRN App. This will increase the value of the patient’s feedback and further improve communication about the patient’s condition.

Both Quantify PRN and Engage PRN will be coming to the Android and Apple store soon.