Focusing on providing more benefits to patients by creating strong collaborations in the healthcare ecosystem, Roche launched the MS+ digital health application that will improve the lives of MS patients. End-to-end digital disease management and telehealth application MS+ was developed in cooperation with Roche Turkey, Albert Health and MS Society of Turkey . This pioneering and innovative application aims to follow-up patient data and to improve the management of the disease by sharing the data with physicians with patient consent.
Roche Turkey has been working with a patient-oriented approach for 125 years to shape the future of the healthcare ecosystem and establishes strong collaborations to improve the lives of MS patients. The MS+ application, developed in cooperation with Roche Turkey, the MS Society of Turkey and the digital health initiative Albert Health, aims to support MS patients in the fight against their disease. With MS+ digital health application, it will be possible to track the symptoms of the patients at home, to keep the patient diary and to report these data to the physicians with patient consent. It is also aimed for MS patients to obtain information on physiotherapy, psychology and nutrition, and to make free remote calls with psychologists and nutritionists.
Multiple Sclerosis, also known as MS disease, is a central nervous system disease, affects approximately 2.3 million people in the world[1], and 70.000 people in Turkey. In approximately 2/3 of the patients, the first symptoms appear between the ages of 20-45, but there are also early-onset patients who experience symptoms from the age of 10 and cases that occur after the age of 40. According to gender distribution, it is stated that the disease is 2-3 times more common in women.[2]
The course and symptoms of the disease may differ in people diagnosed with MS. In addition to common symptoms such as tingling in the body, weakness, balance disorder, double vision, weakening of vision, speech disorder and tremor, symptoms such as walking difficulty, forgetfulness and difficulty in swallowing may be encountered in the future.
Roche Pharma Turkey General Manager Dr. Natasa Klicko said, “We are going through a period of groundbreaking developments in the field of health services all over the world. The importance of digitalization has been understood with the great impact of the pandemic and it is a very valuable factor in increasing accessibility in healthcare services. We focus on providing more benefits to patients by strengthening the healthcare ecosystem, and we continue to combine the power of technology with our patient-oriented approach. As an important stakeholder of the health ecosystem for 125 years, we aim to create more benefits for patients by collaborating with stakeholders while continuing our studies for the diagnosis and treatment of many different diseases. In this context, we launched the MS+ digital health management application in collaboration with the MS Society of Turkey and Albert Health in order to improve the lives of MS patients which is a very important initiative for us in this area. With the MS+ application, MS patients can note the symptoms they encounter in their daily life routines, process nutrition and sleep data, and share these data with physicians with their consent. With all these aspects, we aim to contribute to the better management of the disease and improve the lives of patients with MS+.”
MS Society of Turkey Chairman of the Board Doç. Dr. Melih Tütüncü, made the following comments on the project: “In a disease with a personal course such as MS, effective and regular patient-physician communication and cooperation has a positive effect on the treatment process. It is important to identify the challenges and to support MS patients regarding the situations they encounter during the diagnosis process and after, in order to make them feel that they are not alone and that they are valuable. During the pandemic period, the number of the applications offered through digital communication channels have increased. In this context, we support the digital health management application “MS+” project and hope that it will be a useful guide for MS patients with the contribution of the opportunities offered by modern technology.”
Recai Serdar Gemici, Co-founder & CEO of Alberth Health said: “As one of the fastest growing digital healthcare companies in Turkey, we believe that we create maximum value for patients in the projects we implement by working with healthcare companies and associations, with our focus on innovation and the power of cooperation. Considering the needs of patients and physicians, we designed the MS+ application with a participatory and structured method, together with the MS Society of Turkey and Roche. The MS+ application stands out with its ability to find answers to the questions of patients 24/7 with the help of an artificial intelligence-based voice assistant. At the same time, it is one of the pioneering examples of the concept of artificial intelligence in health in Turkey. Our vision is to be a global player in the field of digital therapies, also known as “Digital Therapeutics”. We see the MS+ project as an important milestone in this journey. We hope that we will add value to the lives of MS patients with this project, which will set an example in digital health with Albert Health technology.”
How to download the MS+ application?
The MS+ application can be downloaded from the link https://albert-health.app.link/MSPlus or with the QR code below. In addition, users can call the call center at 08503084926 for their questions about the application.
[1] https://msplatformu.com/ms-nedir
[2] https://www.turkiyemsdernegi.org/ms-nedir/
