Chicago, Illinois (December 7, 2022): HPC International Inc., in collaboration with Klein Buendel, Inc., has created an interactive app to help manage pain caused by sickle cell disease called Pinpoint™.
The pain caused by sickle cell disease (SCD) is incredibly difficult to manage and “pinpoint” especially for young patients. HPC’s CEO, Dr. Hilton Hudson, recognized that something had to be done. On developing the idea for Pinpoint™, Dr. Hudson said, “When meeting with top researchers at Children’s Hospital in Washington DC, we all agreed that clinicians needed a better way to treat the different types of pain sickle cell patients may experience which led HPC to develop a tool to do just that.” In partnership with Klein Buendel (KB), parents and medical experts, HPC has developed Pinpoint™, an app for teens with SCD.
In a classic form of public-private partnership, the Pinpoint™ app development project was facilitated through two Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants awarded in 2016 and 2018 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). HPC collaborated with KB, medical experts, and parents of children with sickle cell disease to study how an interactive app with a customized pain assessment tool could provide an improved way for adolescents with SCD to learn about and better manage their disorder. Mary Buller, President of KB, who was instrumental on securing the research grants, states, “Teaming up with HPC International and supported by grants from the NIH, Klein Buendel was privileged to create a supportive pain management tool for teens with SCD.” Mary then went on to say “HPC and KB combined content experts and web developers into a winning combination for teens with SCD.” The study’s Expert Advisory Board was formed by clinicians from institutions and nonprofit organizations including HOPE for SCD, UIC, Emory Healthcare, Children’s National, Marquette University College of Nursing, and the International Association of Sickle Cell Nurses and Professional Associates.
Using gaming technology, Pinpoint™ is a mobile app that provides a safe, convenient tool for teens to learn about, track, assess, and communicate about their sickle cell pain with medical providers and parents. Pinpoint™ offers an innovative Pain Assessment Tool and a Pain Diary to log physical and emotional pain symptoms related to their blood disorder and all with the touch of a finger to describe and assess the intensity, duration, quality, nature, and location of their pain and report it to their parents and physician. Pinpoint™ is a web app and works on any smartphone or smart mobile device. Teens can play games, watch videos, learn preventive health tips, and visit the Patient Stories section with real stories and inspirational messages told by other sickle cell patients. To learn more about the Pinpoint™ app, check out our video tutorial.
Pinpoint™ has been clinically proven to help aid in the management of pain caused by SCD. Market research, focus groups, surveys, interviews, and two comprehensive research studies were conducted virtually and in-person with teens, parents and clinical specialists representing communities across the country from 2016 through 2022. “HPC is extraordinarily grateful to all
the experts, parents, and most of all to the kids who participated in this project with us. It is only because of you that we were able to create this evidence-based app. We truly hope it can help adolescents in their transition to adulthood with learning to manage this complex blood disorder,” Megan Lippert, Executive Vice President of HPC International Inc. notes on the development of the app.
The educational content in the Pinpoint™ app comes from the renowned and best-selling Hope & Destiny book series which is written by three clinical expert leaders in hematology: James Eckman, MD, Lewis L Hsu, MD, PhD and Allan Platt, PA-C, MMSc. Hope & Destiny is Hilton Publishing’s premier educational book series on SCD and access to much of this information is available through Pinpoint™. Books are tailored for different reader age groups including adults and parents as well as adolescent patients. The books share stories of patients living with SCD. HPC’s Vice President of Finance, Tammy Gautier, comments on HPC’s connection to SCD, “We are very excited and proud to offer this Sickle Cell App to the marketplace. HPC is the leading provider of Sickle Cell patient education, from new parents that are 1st learning their child has sickle cell disease, to children learning why they hurt and how they can cope, to adolescents that are learning to take charge of their illness and the adulthood patients that have lived with this their whole life. Everything in today’s world is app related so this was just the next phase of our Sickle Cell patient education!”
About HPC International, Inc.
Founded in 1996 and based outside of Chicago, Illinois, HPC is dedicated to education, innovation, and research. HPC is a leading purchased services supplier for healthcare, corporations and academic institutions throughout the United States that offers multiple services including: MyHPCEducationConcierge™ expense management program, MyHPCBooksource™ book distribution service, MyHPCEnterpriseLibrarian™ contract library management and support service, MyHPCValue Analysis Research™ evidence-based research service, and MyHPCCommercializationPartner™ service for marketing and commercializing innovative new products and evidence-based educational tools. HPC is certified through NMSDC as an MBE diversity supplier and a contract-awarded supplier through many group purchasing organizations (GPO’s) and purchasing collaboratives, including HealthTrust, CoreTrust, Vizient, Conductiv, and E&I Cooperative. Learn more about HPC’s service offerings at www.hpcinternationalinc.com.
Research reported in this press release was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health under award number MD010746.
