According to an article from InformationWeek, healthcare providers looking to use mobile technology to improve patient care don’t need to focus exclusively on expensive, professional-grade applications.  That lesson comes form an unlikely source: Professional race car driver Charlie Kimball. Kimball, who races cars in Europe and the United States, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes two years ago and was forced to abandon his racing program mid-season. But he returned last year, on the strict program of diet, exercise, and insulin that diabetics need to keep healthy. 

So what did Charlie Kimball do? He pulled out his iPhone and purchased a few iPhone applications from the App Store  to help monitor his disease and stay on track. According to InformationWeek, here are some of the applications he uses and his experience with each.

Diabetes results from the body’s inability to process glucose–sugar and other carbs. People with Type 1 diabetes, like Kimball, are unable to make insulin, which metabolizes glucose. Type 1 diabetics need insulin injections one to four times daily, and strict diet and regular exercise, all of which requires extensive record-keeping.

Kimball stated he uses the Documents To Go iPhone application from DataViz to record his food, exercise, and blood sugar log in an Excel spreadsheet.  It costs $10 on the iPhone.

According to Kimball, he uses a spreadsheet template designed by his endocrinologist and doctors. He inputs the results of blood sugar tests, insulin doses, foods with carb levels, along with notes on how he’s feeling and whether he’s exercising. Every three days, he synchs the iPhone to a laptop, and emails the documents from either the iPhone or laptop.

Prior to using Docs To Go, Kimball just kept a paper journal that he carried around with him, and transcribed it manually into a spreadsheet on his laptop. “I usually did it on flights because I travel so much for racing,” he said. Sometimes, he’d just fax the paper to them. “They’d have to decipher my handwriting, which is not the best,” Kimball said. “The new system streamlines the process, insofar as getting the information to them in a legible manner.”

Kimball said he uses two other apps on the iPhone to help manage his diabetes. Given the extensive travel his career requires, he often eats at chain restaurants, like Chili’s and Applebee’s, because the nutritional data on the meals, such as calories and carbs, are known and predictable; he uses a $0.99 app called Restaurants to find the nearest location. And diabetes often requires him to stop in at drugstores for medical supplies; he uses the iPhone’s built-in Maps application to find the nearest drugstore when staying in hotels.

It appears that Kimball’s case is a demonstration of another direction for mobile healthcare applications, using cheap consumer software to achieve results. Hey Medicare, this might be something you are interested that can really save consumers money!