Chicago Tribune Melissa Harris column

Sept. 10</chron>--A new company to be led by former Allscripts CEO Glen Tullman won regulatory approval this week for a device that will help diabetics better monitor their blood sugar levels and alert family and friends to abnormalities.

The handheld, called In Touch, represents the next generation of Internet-connected health care technology, one in which patients have regular access to updated information about their condition and can share that data with whomever they desire, including their doctor.

The device measures blood sugar from blood drawn from regular finger pricks and includes a pedometer to monitor a user's activity.

"It says, 'Are you inside or outside of the range?'" said Tullman, who will become CEO of the new company, called Livongo Health. "And then it gives the user information: 'Here's what you can do to stay in the range.' Or it says, 'Have you noticed in the afternoons your blood sugar is always low?' Or, here's a suggestion: 'Every day you walk more than a mile, your numbers are better.'"

Tullman, who has worked as a technology investor since leaving electronic medical record company Allscripts in 2012, said he decided to run a company again because both his son and his niece have Type 1 diabetes.

"It's really a family disease," he said. "You want to share that information."

It also doesn't hurt that he thinks the market opportunity is huge.

Dr. David Kerr of California'sSansum Diabetes Research Institute said In Touch is not the first Internet-enabled glucose monitor. Telcare offers one without a pedometer, for instance.

Kerr describes this class of devices as a steppingstone to what patients really want: A noninvasive way -- without a finger prick -- to test blood sugar. Kerr speculates that lasers would be the ultimate solution.

Meanwhile, Google is working on a contact lens that continuously monitors glucose levels by allowing a wearer's tears to seep into a sensor.

"The big tech companies -- Google, Apple, Samsung -- are looking to incorporate glucose monitors into wearable sensor devices," Kerr said. "The first company that comes up with a noninvasive way to do that will win big."

Tullman put a different spin on the long-term future: "Eventually, we're all going to be wearing a patch" whether you have diabetes or not.

"Because guess what? When we can look inside my son, who wears a continuous glucose monitor, we can also tell other things like, 'Hey, you're going to be sick tomorrow.' We know that because there are a lot of white blood cells in your body.

"Once we capture that drop of blood, there's a lot more we can tell you about you."

Livongo is an outgrowth of EosHealth, a Houston-based company in which Tullman and Lee Shapiro's venture capital fund, 7wire Ventures, invested in last year. Eos, which developed the technology, is now being folded into Livongo, whose name comes from "living on the go."

Tullman offered to draw some blood and show me how the device works. No need for a demonstration. My uncle has Type 1 diabetes. But it did make me think to call my uncle for his opinion.

"I think it's a good idea, especially for people who don't control or don't take ownership of the situation," he said. "Or minors. Kids going away to college. People who are busy and so involved in work."

One thing this device isn't going to solve is the discrepancy in pricing, which is determined by each person's health insurance policy. To win market share, the company only needs to ensure its device costs less than existing ones.

The 7wire fund has more than a 20 percent stake in the company. General Catalyst Partners, founded in Cambridge, Mass., 7wire and other venture capital firms invested $15 million into the company. The device was built in a leased facility in Silicon Valley, while the sales and business operations are out of Chicago.

"It turns out, people don't want to be more engaged in their health care," Tullman said. "If you have a chronic disease ... the last thing you want to do is spend more time focusing on it.

"We're trying to go for a more consumer experience ... having them do less."

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