From smartphone to EHR: a case report on integrating patient-generated health data
Open Access
- 20 June 2018
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in npj Digital Medicine
- Vol. 1 (1), 1-6
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-018-0030-8
Abstract
Patient-generated health data (PGHD), collected from mobile apps and devices, represents an opportunity for remote patient monitoring and timely interventions to prevent acute exacerbations of chronic illness—if data are seen and shared by care teams. This case report describes the technical aspects of integrating data from a popular smartphone platform to a commonly used EHR vendor and explores the challenges and potential of this approach for disease management. Consented subjects using the Asthma Health app (built on Apple’s ResearchKit platform) were able to share data on inhaler usage and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) with a local pulmonologist who ordered this data on Epic’s EHR. For users who had installed and activated Epic’s patient portal (MyChart) on their iPhone and enabled sharing of health data between apps via HealthKit, the pulmonologist could review PGHD and, if necessary, make recommendations. Four patients agreed to share data with their pulmonologist, though only two patients submitted more than one data point across the 4.5-month trial period. One of these patients submitted 101 PEFR readings across 65 days; another submitted 24 PEFR and inhaler usage readings across 66 days. PEFR for both patients fell within predefined physiologic parameters, except once where a low threshold notification was sent to the pulmonologist, who responded with a telephone discussion and new e-prescription to address symptoms. This research describes the technical considerations and implementation challenges of using commonly available frameworks for sharing PGHD, for the purpose of remote monitoring to support timely care interventions.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Use of Smartphones for Health ResearchAcademic Medicine, 2017
- Apple HealthKit and Health App: Patient Uptake and Barriers in Primary CareTelemedicine and e-Health, 2016
- C3-PRO: Connecting ResearchKit to the Health System Using i2b2 and FHIRPLOS ONE, 2016
- Automated integration of continuous glucose monitor data in the electronic health record using consumer technologyJournal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 2016
- A Digital Ecosystem of Diabetes Data and TechnologyJournal of Diabetes Science and Technology, 2015
- Opportunities and challenges in the use of personal health data for health researchJournal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 2015
- Pulse oximetry recorded from the Phone Oximeter for detection of obstructive sleep apnea events with and without oxygen desaturation in children2018 40th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2015
- Emerging uses of patient generated health data in clinical researchMolecular Oncology, 2014
- Analysis of Health Consumers' Behavior Using Self-Tracker for Activity, Sleep, and DietTelemedicine and e-Health, 2014
- In Search of a Few Good AppsJAMA, 2014