Patient-generated mobile data improves clinical care

Using mobile devices to report "observations of daily living" (ODLs) can help improve healthcare, according to studies supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The five research teams involved in RWJF's Project HealthDesign found that when patients used technologies such as smartphone apps, sensors, iPods, and iPads to collect information from their daily lives and share it with providers, clinical care improved. Moreover, they found that providers were willing to use the data if it was properly filtered and presented. The Project HealthDesign teams enrolled patients all over the country in their studies.