We are proud to announce that the SPINN brand has been retired, and our new brand, proVizor, will be our brand going forward, along with a major revision and expansion of our patient engagement and care collaboration platform.
We started SPINN in 2006, before the term “personal health record” came into common usage, so our name, an acronym for the Secure Personal Information and Notification Network, seemed like a good idea. Our vision was to simplify access to patient health and social information and to extend evidence-based practice beyond the walls and hours of clinics and social service organizations.
In our early years, we had considerable success, albeit with only a few clients, most significantly for people with substance use disorder, but also providing services related to the management of chronic physical conditions as well as for offender reentry and employment services. Our client projects were funded by grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Department of Labor and the Department of Justice as well as state and private foundations. Over several years, our clients saw a reduction in the rate of relapse, increased operational efficiency and even a reduction in the rate of recidivism.
We knew we were ahead of the curve with respect to payment models, regulations and incentives for a truly integrated continuum of care. Nonetheless, we stayed with it, expecting that the political environment would ultimately bring the kind of advances to healthcare that have become ubiquitous in so many other aspects of our lives.
By 2015 and 2016, we realized the limitations of the SPINN platform. It was simply too cumbersome to modify to meet the evolving needs of our clients on very tight budgets. We needed a configurable system that allowed professional staff to develop, deploy, modify and analyze their own evidence-based workflow systems without the need for costly consulting and programming services. We put our plans in place to begin a major revision and update to our platform.
Then came the 2016 election. Whatever side of the political fence you fall on, it is indisputable that the 2016 election led to a period of uncertainty about the direction of healthcare and healthcare funding. We put our plans on hold while the market sorted itself out. We shifted our focus to research projects, particularly at the intersection of physical and behavioral health and social determinants of health. We studied the association between food and housing and health status. Our work showed we could measure the association between food and housing insecurity and health status. We identified gaps between policy makers and practitioners. We planned for our return.
Now, in the summer and fall of 2019, we see signs of a market that is opening up. At the same time, with the broad industry shift towards user configurable applications, like Wix and Square Space for web design or Survey Monkey or Qualtrix for surveys, we see amazing tools that give configurable design power to users and administrators, lessening the need for costly consulting and programming services. At the same time, and for the same reasons, we see lower prices that allow solutions to move from expensive novelties to lower cost, easy to use yet amazing solutions available to everyone.
In April, we filed a provisional patent for our technology. Now we are re-branding and effectively re-launching the business. Through this blog, as well as through other social media channels, we’ll keep you posted on our progress. This is gonna be a fun ride!
