{"id":7995,"date":"2018-04-09T17:25:37","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T21:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/"},"modified":"2018-04-09T17:28:10","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T21:28:10","slug":"ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Ginger.io: An app that monitors your mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anxiety and depression disorders are a common mental illness in the US, and while 40 million people are affected with these diseases, only 35% of are receiving treatment [1]. In this context, Ginger.io had created a mobile platform, where any patient with a smartphone can access professional mental care.<\/p>\n

Ginger.io developed a mobile app that enable users to chat with professional coaches and therapists. If the therapist identifies that the patient has an urgent need, he\/she can refer the patient to a doctor immediately \u2013 who can contact the patient also through video chat [2]. However, facilitating access is not the only objective of this start-up. An important component of the value proposition is gathering and analyzing personal data that enables therapists to provide customized support.<\/p>\n

\u201cGinger.io\u2019s mission is to increase access to high quality behavioral health care by <\/strong>powering their team of expert coaches, therapists and psychiatrists with machine learning and AI technology.” [3]<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Using data and AI to create value to customers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ginger.io\u2019s app track how often people messaged, how long they talk for, how long they sleep and how often they exercise, since this information can provide clues of a person\u2019s mental health. For example, \u201cwhen people fall into a cycle of depression, they tend to go into isolation and only call a couple of people\u201d says Karan Singh, one of the company\u2019s founders.<\/p>\n

The app first creates a baseline model of a user\u2019s mobile-phone activity and then searches for deviations from that pattern. For patients with bipolar disorder, a burst of text messaging or phone calls could signal a manic episode. \u201cWe can compare this to your past behavior, or to aggregate behavior of individuals of your approximate age and demographic,\u201d says Anmol Madan, another of the company\u2019s cofounders [4]. When the algorithm finds deviations on user\u2019s behaviors, the app sends messages to the patient. It also informs the therapists and coaches, who can intervene immediately using reliable and information.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Future growth in B2B<\/strong><\/p>\n

The algorithm learns from the historical behavior of each patient to drive insights. At the same time, it learns by aggregating users\u2019 patterns to provide wider conclusions. Ginger.io plans to use monetize the data by collaborating with health-care providers, pharmaceutical companies, health insurers, large employers, and chronic-patient communities. The idea is that these groups could offer the app to patients or employees and would, in turn, get a set of aggregate statistics about and trends in the health and behavior of users. \u201cFor a [health-care] provider or academic researchers, this might help them understand how people behave when they\u2019re symptomatic,\u201d says Madan. A pharmaceutical company might gain insight into links between behavior and medication and health, such as whether physically active people get better faster. \u201cThese are all novel data that they never had access to before,\u201d says Madan [4].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Challenges for the future<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Providing the right insights: One challenge is identifying the right cause of a particular behavior. For example, a patient\u2019s reduction in the amount of time texting friends could be caused by depression. But it could also be caused by a very busy week at work. How can the company differentiate these two causes to drive accurate recommendations?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Protecting user\u2019s data and dealing with privacy concerns: The business model relies on users accepting Ginger.io to access their personal phones and track all their activities. We can anticipate that the company will need to work on how protect user\u2019s data and deal with privacy concerns. This will be more relevant considering that the company plans to monetize the data selling it to third parties such as health insurers and pharma companies.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

      End Notes<\/p>\n

      [1] https:\/\/adaa.org\/about-adaa\/press-room\/facts-statistics<\/a><\/p>\n

      [2] https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/apps\/2017\/11\/21\/app-gives-247-access-mental-health-care-professionals\/feed\/<\/a><\/p>\n

      [3] https:\/\/ginger.io\/<\/a><\/p>\n

      [4] https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/s\/424422\/an-app-that-looks-for-signs-of-sickness\/<\/a><\/p>\n

      [5] https:\/\/www.cio.com\/article\/3235445\/healthcare\/5-companies-using-big-data-to-disrupt-healthcare.html<\/a><\/p>\n

      [6] https:\/\/globenewswire.com\/news-release\/2018\/01\/04\/1283511\/0\/en\/Ginger-io-Offers-Emotional-Support-to-Over-50-000-Home-Care-Aides-in-SEIU-775-Benefits-Group.html<\/a><\/p>\n

      [7] http:\/\/www.healthcareitnews.com\/slideshow\/how-ai-transforming-healthcare-and-solving-problems-2017?page=5<\/a><\/p>\n

      [8] https:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/boston\/2011\/10\/18\/ginger-io-raises-1-7m-for-mobile-health-it-rides-wave-of-mit-media-lab-startups-trying-to-understand-people\/<\/a><\/p>\n

      [9] http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sciencetech\/article-2899621\/The-seeing-app-tell-depressed-Ginger-analyses-phone-monitor-health.html<\/a><\/p>\n

      [10] https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/would-you-let-an-app-monitor-your-mental-health-1607236603<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Ginger.io is using smartphone data to draw insights and offer customized care for people engaging with mental illness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2380,"featured_media":7998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-7995","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/competing-with-data-challenge\/","yoast_head":"\nGinger.io: An app that monitors your mental health - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ginger.io: An app that monitors your mental health - Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ginger.io is using smartphone data to draw insights and offer customized care for people engaging with mental illness.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-09T21:28:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/Gingerio2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"649\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"236\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ginger.io: An app that monitors your mental health - Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/Gingerio2.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-09T21:25:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-09T21:28:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/Gingerio2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2018\\\/04\\\/Gingerio2.png\",\"width\":649,\"height\":236},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Ginger.io: An app that monitors your mental health\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ginger.io: An app that monitors your mental health - Digital Innovation and Transformation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ginger.io: An app that monitors your mental health - Digital Innovation and Transformation","og_description":"Ginger.io is using smartphone data to draw insights and offer customized care for people engaging with mental illness.","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/","og_site_name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","article_modified_time":"2018-04-09T21:28:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":649,"height":236,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/Gingerio2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/","name":"Ginger.io: An app that monitors your mental health - Digital Innovation and Transformation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/Gingerio2.png","datePublished":"2018-04-09T21:25:37+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-09T21:28:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/Gingerio2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/Gingerio2.png","width":649,"height":236},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/ginger-io-an-app-that-monitors-your-mental-health\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Ginger.io: An app that monitors your mental health"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/","name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/7995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2380"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/7995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}