He acknowledges that with such a close link to a new concept, risk is attached.
“As we move outside that traditional patient–physician relationship into a different kind of relationship with individuals or with people, there’s always some risk. … It’s not what we’ve been doing for 150 years. At the center, though, the primary value of Mayo Clinic is [that] the needs of the patient come first. This is an extension of being able to meet that need prior to somebody becoming a Mayo Clinic patient.”
He also stresses that it’s not expected that healthcare-by-smartphone will become the dominant force in healthcare tomorrow. Many patients with chronic conditions, and who might be in the most need of close monitoring, might have no interest in using a smartphone or HealthKit as a way to get their medical care.
“While this is an area where we think that there are a lot of opportunities for us to meet needs with our digital tools, our digital knowledge, it’s clearly not the only way that we’re reaching out,” Dr. Limburg says. “We’re trying to get knowledge out there to individuals on their terms, when they want it, how they want it, meeting their needs but also their learning preferences.”
He says it’s too early to have actually seen an example of a patient having entered data into an app at home and then getting a follow-up call from a doctor as a result.
Beyond Mayo
Other institutions are developing, or considering developing, projects making use of HealthKit.
Reuters has reported that a pilot project at Stanford University Medical Center sets out to track blood sugar in children with diabetes, and another at Duke University Hospital is tracking blood pressure and weight in patients with cancer and heart conditions.
Kaiser Permanente is considering its options and is excited about HealthKit’s prospects, spokesperson Amanda Wardell says.
“We’re exploring how we can leverage HealthKit to help our members track and integrate their health information in meaningful ways and strengthen the patient/physician relationship,” she says. “The introduction of Apple’s HealthKit and Health app seem to align with our belief that the key to helping people live healthier lives is giving them the tools and information they need to make healthy decisions.”
She says there are no new apps being developed yet, but Kaiser Permanente is “testing HealthKit to see how it might be integrated into our digital offerings.”
Use in Rheumatology
Paul Sufka, MD, a rheumatologist in Minnesota and a technology enthusiast who discusses technology in a regular podcast, says he thinks the quality of the information entered by the patient might pose a problem for the long-term success of HealthKit.
