Dr. David Voran, Informatics Director at Truman Medical Center, will be one of the mentors working with startups participating with the Sprint Accelerator for Mobile Health, powered by Techstars.

When it comes to your health, making small changes at the right time can be big.

“We can dramatically prevent a lot of bad things happening,” said David Voran, Informatics Director at Truman Medical Center.

Voran believes that mobile apps already are helping improve lives in this way and that they are poised to do far more. He is helping to make it happen.

He’ll be one of the mentors working with the entrepreneurs when the first class of startups gathers this spring at the Sprint Accelerator for mobile health, powered by Techstars. 

The accelerator hasn’t finalized the lineup just yet. Mobile health startups still can apply by the Jan. 6 deadline. Get more details and apply here. 

Mobile health offers such great promise because apps can be there when a physician, nurse or other health professional can’t, Voran said.

High blood pressure and obesity are examples of potentially devastating problems that can be affected by a patient’s lifestyle choices. Mobile apps can help someone track what they eat, focusing on such things as calories or salt intake to encourage healthful choices.

“A lot of apps provide individuals with immediate feedback,” Voran said.

Voran also is intrigued by apps that utilize sensors built into smartphones. These could help remotely monitor a patient after he returns home from surgery, for example, providing an opportunity to intervene at initial signs of a problem and prevent it from growing to be serious.

When working with mobile health startups, Voran will offer the experience of a physician who knows what information from an app would be medically valuable. He also knows what a patient is likely to use and what they won’t.

This insight will help produce new technology tools that are more likely to be useful for patients and the health professionals who care for them.

“I look at mobile apps and technology around that as absolutely key to enabling us to be more involved in our patients’ lives,” Voran said.