In March 2020, there were more than 110,000 people on the national transplant waiting list. According to the U.S. Government Information on Organ Donation and Transplantation, 20 people die every day while waiting for an organ donor transplant. And every nine minutes, someone is added to the national transplant list. In 2019, 39,718 transplant operations were performed, which was a record high for the seventh consecutive year.

A new app, AlloCare from CareDx (NASDAQ: CDNA) uses AI and machine learning to help transplant patients track, monitor and manage their daily medicine doses, blood pressure, urine output, sleep, steps and weight. The AI models input from each of these factors and gives the patient a daily tracking score to monitor their progress with their transplant goals and take an active role in monitoring their organ health.

AlloCare is currently in beta since November 2019 with heart and kidney transplant patients and is expected to be released to all transplant patients 26 Sept 2020 at a virtual Transplant Festival. 

According to Peter Maag, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO at CareDx, an organ transplant often means a second chance at life for patients.

“However, recipients can experience both incredible joy and overwhelming fear about how their body will accept a new organ – whether that is a kidney or a heart,” said Maag. “To increase the chance of long-term survival, transplant patients must take a proactive role in their health.”

Maag says that simple tasks, like taking medication on time and monitoring blood pressure, water intake and urine output, become important organ-saving tasks.

“The AlloCare app is a big piece of that puzzle because it enables patients to monitor [..] important metrics in one app and gives their new organ, and themselves, the best chance of surviving for many years to come,” added Maag.

“Today, digital transformation has a powerful impact on patient health and enables unprecedented advancements in precision and personalized medicine,” said Maag.