People with thrombosis measure their INR value regularly — a measure of how quickly their blood clots — and receive a dosing schedule for their blood thinner based on that value. Too high or too low is risky in both directions. The traditional process often runs through the practice: measure, send or call in, wait, get called back. For patients this is awkward; for clinicians it is time-consuming.
For a thrombosis-care client I worked on an end-to-end solution: a patient app, a portal for healthcare professionals, and the supporting API layer. My role was to rebuild the entire app and rebuild the portal API, so patients and clinicians work together inside one coherent system rather than around scattered messages and spreadsheets.
A key part was integrating multiple Bluetooth INR meters over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Every brand and model has its own protocol, data format, and quirks. I implemented the protocol for each device, with attention to stable connections, error detection, and clear feedback to the patient when something doesn't go entirely smoothly.
With the direct integration a patient can take a measurement at home, and that value flows through the app into the portal. A dosing schedule can be created almost immediately and sent back to the patient. The lead time between measurement and dosing schedule has dropped from days to often just a few hours — which is especially noticeable in situations where rapid adjustments matter.
On the portal side, usability for clinicians was central. Patient lists, flagging of out-of-range values, dosing decisions, and communication must take a few clicks — not ten. We invested a lot of time iterating on those screens with end-users, because those same screens are used dozens of times a day.
The combination of Angular 8 for the portal, Ionic for the app, and CakePHP 3 with MySQL for the back-end produced a platform built for reliable daily use and extensible to new meter vendors and additional workflows. The project was ultimately not completed in its full scope.
Outcomes
- Lead time from measurement to dosing schedule reduced from days to a few hours
- Several brands of Bluetooth INR meter integrated, each with its own BLE protocol
- One coherent system for patient and clinician on Angular 8, Ionic and CakePHP 3