Signaling A Healthier Path

Livongo is taking on diabetes—and other chronic conditions—with data.

- Bill Saporito

In a perfect world, says Glen Tullman, the co-founder of Livongo, digitally based health care services like his would operate the way Netflix or Amazon does: deliver on demand, and use data analytics to anticipate what’s needed and improve customer service. “When we ask people about their diabetes or hypertension, they say, ‘We just want to live our lives. Make it go away,’ ” says Tullman, who has a diabetic son.

A worthy goal for Livongo, maker of a blood-glucose meter that’s used by 120,000 diabetes patients to instantly upload their blood sugar data to Livongo’s analytic engine. Livongo has also introduced a cellphone-enabled, cuff-to-cloud blood-pressure device for people with hypertension, as well as a wireless-enabled scale.