California-based Lark Health has developed an AI-driven programme for the prevention and management of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and coronary artery disease (CAD).

Done in collaboration with Roche Diagnostics, the programme, named Lark Heart Health, is an AI-driven virtual care offering that provides personalised health coaching anytime, anywhere. The plan is for it to launch later this year. 

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally, and nearly half of all adults in the USA have some form of CVD. It is also one of the most expensive chronic conditions, with heart disease and stroke costing the US healthcare system roughly $214bn annually.

Yet, provider shortages and siloed care teams leave patients with limited care options, gaps in care, and insufficient education and empowerment to self-manage their heart health. Additionally, high treatment costs and resource constraints often limit care to those with the highest acuity conditions.

Built using a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) framework and designed to guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA), Lark Heart Health will provide a scalable method for continuous, person-centric remote heart health coaching intended to help users improve their healthy lifestyle behaviour, reduce stress levels and ultimately decrease risk factors for heart disease.

Through an evidence-based educational curriculum and real-time personalised coaching, Lark will provide users with the tools they need to make meaningful lifestyle changes that can help them better prevent and manage ASCVD and CAD.

Earlier this year, Lark joined the AHA’s Network at American Heart Association Center of Health Technology & Innovation, which is focused on building and fostering health technology relationships to develop innovative and scalable technology.

“Lark Heart Health will help those at high risk prevent and actively manage cardiovascular disease through personalised digital coaching,” said Julia Hu, CEO of Lark. “By leveraging our AI technology, we can deliver meaningful and engaging care at an unprecedented scale, and this collaboration with Roche Diagnostics will support the expansion of our proven tech platform into one of the costliest chronic disease markets.”

Lark is a healthcare technology company aimed at delivering infinitely scalable, virtual chronic and preventative healthcare through conversational AI. To date, Lark has provided nearly two million people with unlimited, round-the-clock personalised care delivered through a text message-like interface that integrates remote patient monitoring tools and is built on a cognitive behavioural therapy framework.

Lark’s platform seamlessly integrates with health plans’ and employers’ existing healthcare infrastructure to help them scale their chronic disease prevention and management programmes, boost engagement, and improve health outcomes.