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Kinsa, First-Ever FDA-Cleared App-Enabled Thermometer, Launches Fluency™ Program to Curb the Spread of Flu in Schools Company Gives Thermometers FREE to Thousands of Participating Families
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Kinsa, First-Ever FDA-Cleared App-Enabled Thermometer, Launches Fluency(TM) Program to Curb the Spread of Flu in Schools
NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Kinsa, the maker of the first-ever FDA-cleared smartphone-connected thermometer, today announced that it is giving Kinsa Smart Thermometers, priced at $29.99 retail, FREE to participating schools in an effort to combat this year’s particularly dangerous flu season.
The thermometer outreach program, called Fluency™, is being offered to parents at up to 20 public and private elementary and preschools across the country. By using the Kinsa Smart Thermometer, parents at these schools will be able to see aggregated, anonymized stats about the health of their child’s school. The schools will benefit from early detection and increased awareness, leading to fewer sick days.
"Sick days are disruptive to learning, challenging for parents who must find childcare, and costly to schools that are already struggling with strapped resources," explains Kinsa founder and CEO Inder Singh. "We are thrilled to be able to offer select schools a tool to help keep more children healthy and in class."
One of the first campuses to pilot the Fluency program is Travis Heights Elementary, a Pre-K through 5th grade school serving roughly 500 students from predominantly low-income families in downtown Austin, Texas. "There is nothing more important than the health and safety of our students," explains Travis Heights Principal Lisa Robertson.
Like many public schools, Travis Heights Elementary not only sees sick days as a distraction from learning; the school also loses significant district funding for unexcused absences – roughly $40 per child-sick-day. "Knowing what’s going around the school and notifying families when to take extra precaution will be so valuable," says Travis Heights PTA President Raymond Sinatra. "If it can also save the school money as we work on raising funds for crucial academic programs, that will be a much appreciated added benefit."
Schools interested in receiving FREE smartphone-connected thermometers for all families should apply for the Fluency program at www.kinsahealth.com/fluency. Up to 20 schools nationwide will be selected for the program by the end of the month.
Much like many groundbreaking IoT (Internet of Things) products for health, the Kinsa Smart Thermometer connects to smartphones via the headphone jack and uses the display, power, and processing of the smartphone to determine a precise temperature reading in less than 10 seconds. Through the accompanying Kinsa mobile app, users can:
Create individual profiles for each member of a family;
Record and monitor fever, symptom, and illness history;
Make temperature-taking fun for kids through interactive screens;
Report the progression of illnesses to physicians;
Keep track of medication dosages and timing; and
Document any physical symptoms with photos.
About Kinsa
Kinsa is the first FDA-cleared smartphone-connected thermometer and health tracking app. By transforming how people care for themselves and their families through elegant mobile software and hardware products, Kinsa aims to create a real-time map of human health and to enable society to track and stop the spread of disease. The Kinsa Smart Thermometer won Grand Prize in the 2013 Cleveland Clinic Medical Innovation Grand Prize, New York City’s Innovate Health Tech, Demo Mobile 2013 and recently appeared in Apple’s "Parenthood" TV Commercial. The Kinsa Smart Thermometer is available at Apple and CVS stores across the United States as well as online at Amazon, Apple.com and Kinsa’s website for $29.99. The Kinsa app is free and available for both Apple and Android-based devices on iTunes and Google Play.
