Initial results of a study conducted by a Baltimore startup and healthcare institution point to a potential tool to address one of the city’s public health challenges.

Through the study with LifeBridge Health, Mount Vernon-based emocha applied its technology, which allows patients following a prescription to submit a video taking their medication, to pediatric asthma. Patients sent a video of themselves using a prescribed inhaler. Tracking nearly 1,000 daily check-ins, the early results of the study showed a reduced number of ER visits and fewer oral steroid prescriptions, which can be required when inhalers aren’t used or are used incorrectly.

emocha’s app and service is designed to reinforce and ultimately help patients stay with a treatment regimen. It is tackling a key issue in healthcare: Even after getting medication, many patients often don’t stick to their prescription plans. This measure is known in healthcare circles as medication adherence.

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