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Consumer
Electronics can help improve Patient Health
Newswise — Electronic tools and technology
applications for consumers can help improve
health care processes, such as adherence to
medication and clinical outcomes like
smoking cessation, according to a report by
researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health.
The analysis of consumer health informatics,
conducted by the Bloomberg School’s
Evidence-based Practice Center for the
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ),
was based on an examination of 146 published
research studies of patient-focused
electronic tools.
It is among the first to explore the
potential value of consumer health
informatics.
Consumer health informatics applications are
defined as any electronic tool, technology
or electronic application designed to
interact directly with consumers, with or
without the presence of a health care
professional, and that provides or uses
individualized (personal) information to
help a patient better manage his or her
health or health care.
Personalized informatics tools can include
applications such as online health
calculators, interactive computer programs
to aid decision making, SMS text and email
messages, which can be applied to a variety
of clinical conditions, including cancer,
smoking, diabetes mellitus, physical
activity and mental health disorders.
“Consumer electronics are changing the way
we shop, bank, communicate and even elect
our presidents. We wanted to know if there
was any evidence that these types of tools
could impact health,” said Michael
Christopher Gibbons, MD, MPH, lead author
and assistant professor in the Bloomberg
School’s Department of Health, Behavior and
Society.
“In the future these tools may help make
health care much more patient-centered and
available when needed and not just available
when the office is open.
"They
may also help us improve health disparities
by increasing patient access to
health-improving treatments and
interventions among the poor and uninsured.”
Overall the analysis found no evidence that
consumer health informatics harmed
consumers.
In addition, there was insufficient evidence
to determine if consumer health informatics
provided any economic or cost benefit.
Additional authors of the report “Impact of
Consumer Health Informatics Applications”
include Renee F. Wilson, MS; Lipika Samal,
MD; Christoph U. Lehmann, MD; Kay Dickersin,
PhD, MA; Harold P. Lehmann, MD, PhD; Hanan
Aboumatar, MD; Joe Finkelstein, MD, PhD;
Erica Shelton, MD; Ritu Sharma, BS, and Eric
B. Bass, MD, MPH.
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