Health System Connects Mobile App to 250 Devices

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20 Oct. 2018. A health care system in Boston is developing a mobile app to make it easier to share data from 250 home and wearable devices that collect medically related information. Partners Connected Health says the app connecting these devices to its PGHD Connect platform will be available for download next month.

Partners Connected Health is the information technology division of Partners HealthCare, a health care provider system that includes Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital — both teaching hospitals affiliated with Harvard Medical School — as well as  community and specialty hospitals, community health centers, a physician network, and home health and long-term care services. Among the company’s services is development and testing of mobile technologies for medication adherence, care coordination, chronic disease management, prevention, and wellness.

Partners HealthCare launched PGHD Connect last year to connect the wide array of personal health devices to individuals’ electronic health records. The platform collects data from wearable devices, such as activity trackers, as well as health care monitors used in the home, such as fitness equipment, connected bathroom scales, blood glucose meters, and blood pressure cuffs, for patients and their physicians. In addition to blood glucose levels and blood pressure, PGHD Connect also records weight and activity data in the clients’ health records.

As reported by Science & Enterprise in October of last year, the health IT company Validic developed a key part of PGHD Connect that integrates data from the wide variety of devices into electronic health records. Validic and Partners HealthCare reported on results of a pilot test integrating data from home blood pressure monitors.

The new mobile app will add an enhancement to PGHD Connect, a feature called VitalSnap that allows for direct capture of data from home or wearable devices without an intermediary app or device. The app, say its developers, will be available next month in iOS and Android versions, built on Apple HealthKit and Samsung Health frameworks.

Kelly Santomas, senior director of Partners Connected Health says in a company statement that “PGHDConnect is currently used in primary care and specialty practices, and is being positioned to launch in hospitals and at discharge.” She adds that “There is a research study in progress and a number of pilots being proposed to assess workflows and clinical outcomes using this platform with the potential to reach almost two million patients across the Partners network.”

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