mHealth

The Center for Connected Health believes in the power of mobile technology to transform the lives of patients and to improve the quality of care that we provide. We are currently exploring several areas of mHealth, from smartphone applications to wireless data transfer systems that can give patients a closer relationship with their providers.

Center for Connected Health Initiatives

Message Connect

Message Connect is a text-messaging based platform that allows clinicians and their practices to send customized messages to their patients, reaching them throughout their day-to-day lives.

Sunscreen Adherence

The aim of this trial is to assess the effect of text-message reminders delivered via cell phone on adherence to sunscreen application.

Encouraging Prenatal Care

The goal was to offer a program to younger women who have limited support systems in place and would truly benefit from additional reminders about healthy pregnancy.

Encouraging Support While Battling Addiction

Patients battling opioid addiction require frequent testing, weekly office visits, support services and outreach, particularly during the early stages of treatment. Text messaging may be a low cost option to extend communication and could play an important role in keeping these patients feeling connected and providing reminders for testing and visits critical to success.

Text Messages as a Reminder Aid and Educational Tool in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

Our goals were to assess the usability and satisfaction of the text message system, and measure changes in pre- and post-test scores in medication adherence, maintenance behaviors, and disease severity.

Mobile Phone Technology for Children with Diabetes: A Parent Survey

We surveyed parents of children with diabetes to identify their concerns related to their children's diabetes and assess the relationship between these concerns and parental attitudes toward a glucometer integrated into a mobile phone that could provide parents and healthcare providers with a child's real-time glucose readings via text message and a secure website.

Texting for Steps

A new text-messaging program will promote good health and nutrition, and incorporate tracking of students' daily activity using a wireless pedometer.

Center for Connected Health Initiatives

Message Connect

Message Connect is a text-messaging based platform that allows clinicians and their practices to send customized messages to their patients, reaching them throughout their day-to-day lives.

Sunscreen Adherence

The aim of this trial is to assess the effect of text-message reminders delivered via cell phone on adherence to sunscreen application.

Encouraging Prenatal Care

The goal was to offer a program to younger women who have limited support systems in place and would truly benefit from additional reminders about healthy pregnancy.

Encouraging Support While Battling Addiction

Patients battling opioid addiction require frequent testing, weekly office visits, support services and outreach, particularly during the early stages of treatment. Text messaging may be a low cost option to extend communication and could play an important role in keeping these patients feeling connected and providing reminders for testing and visits critical to success.

Text Messages as a Reminder Aid and Educational Tool in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

Our goals were to assess the usability and satisfaction of the text message system, and measure changes in pre- and post-test scores in medication adherence, maintenance behaviors, and disease severity.

Research Materials & External Resources

The Impact of Using Mobile-Enabled Devices on Patient Engagement in Remote Monitoring Programs

The findings suggest that mobile-enabled wireless technologies can positively impact patient engagement, outcomes, and operational workflow in remote monitoring programs.

May 2013 | Stephen Agboola, MD, MPH, Rob Havasy, Khinlei Myint-U, MBA, Joseph Kvedar, MD, Kamal Jethwani, MD, MPH

Mobile Health as the Patient-facing Convergence Platform for Clinical Research and Healthcare

This article explores the opportunities and challenges of using mHealth in clinical research.

May 2012 | Jethwani K, Havasy R, Mohammed M, Kvedar J

Text Messaging to Encourage Prenatal Care

In this pilot study, data suggests that women receiving text messages found the messages to be helpful and had a higher level of attendance at their prenatal visits compared to a similar cohort in the same medical practice.

January 2012 | Pelletier A, McDermott L, Myint-U K, Kvedar JC

A low-cost text messaging reminder system

Text (SMS) messaging is an inexpensive, simple, and ubiquitous method of communication. We piloted two programs which provided text messages to patients at a community clinic, directed at two vulnerable patient populations. One pilot targeted young, at-risk pregant and teens, and the other taregeted patients enrolled in an opioid addiction treatment program.

November 2010 | Rob Havasy

Text Messages as a Reminder Aid and Educational Tool in Adults and Adolescents with Atopic Dermatitis: A Pilot Study

This study illustrates that the use of text messages, a simple and inexpensive technology, may be effective as a reminder aid and educational tool in young patients with atopic dermatitis.

July 2010 | Venessa Pena-Robichaux, MD; Joseph C. Kvedar, MD; Alice J. Watson, MBChB, MRCP, MPH

Mobile Phone Technology for Children with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes: A Parent Survey

We surveyed parents of children with diabetes to identify their concerns related to their children's diabetes and assess the relationship between these concerns and parental attitudes toward a glucometer integrated into a mobile phone that could provide parents and healthcare providers with a child's real-time glucose readings via text message and a secure website.

November 2009 | Pena V, Watson AJ, Kvedar JC, Grant RW

Text-Message Reminders to Improve Sunscreen Use: A Randomized, Controlled Trial Using Electronic Monitoring

The aim of this trial is to assess the effect of text-message reminders delivered via cell phone on adherence to sunscreen application.

November 2009 | Armstrong AW, Watson AJ, Makredes M, Frangos JE, Kimball AB, Kvedar JC

Research Materials & External Resources

The Impact of Using Mobile-Enabled Devices on Patient Engagement in Remote Monitoring Programs

The findings suggest that mobile-enabled wireless technologies can positively impact patient engagement, outcomes, and operational workflow in remote monitoring programs.

May 2013 | Stephen Agboola, MD, MPH, Rob Havasy, Khinlei Myint-U, MBA, Joseph Kvedar, MD, Kamal Jethwani, MD, MPH

Mobile Health as the Patient-facing Convergence Platform for Clinical Research and Healthcare

This article explores the opportunities and challenges of using mHealth in clinical research.

May 2012 | Jethwani K, Havasy R, Mohammed M, Kvedar J

Text Messaging to Encourage Prenatal Care

In this pilot study, data suggests that women receiving text messages found the messages to be helpful and had a higher level of attendance at their prenatal visits compared to a similar cohort in the same medical practice.

January 2012 | Pelletier A, McDermott L, Myint-U K, Kvedar JC

A low-cost text messaging reminder system

Text (SMS) messaging is an inexpensive, simple, and ubiquitous method of communication. We piloted two programs which provided text messages to patients at a community clinic, directed at two vulnerable patient populations. One pilot targeted young, at-risk pregant and teens, and the other taregeted patients enrolled in an opioid addiction treatment program.

November 2010 | Rob Havasy

Text Messages as a Reminder Aid and Educational Tool in Adults and Adolescents with Atopic Dermatitis: A Pilot Study

This study illustrates that the use of text messages, a simple and inexpensive technology, may be effective as a reminder aid and educational tool in young patients with atopic dermatitis.

July 2010 | Venessa Pena-Robichaux, MD; Joseph C. Kvedar, MD; Alice J. Watson, MBChB, MRCP, MPH

JCK promo photoThe cHealth Blog
Check out Dr. Joe Kvedar's new blog about Connected Health:
The cHealth Blog

 

News & Articles Show More

Joseph Kvedar, MD Talks Mobile Health Technology in the Care SettingDr. Joseph Kvedar discusses how mobile health technology tools can be used in a transformative way.
Sunday, April 21, 2013 | HIT Consultant
In the wake of a Boston tragedy, mHealth holds promiseIn today's rapid response world, the smartphone is more than just a communications device. It's fast becoming a medical device.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 | mHIMSS
UCSF Heart Disease Study To Use Mobile AppsBig data trial will follow up to 1 million patients, who will use smartphones to transmit blood pressure and other data several times a day. "It's wonderful to see mainstream medicine paying this much attention to patient-derived data that doesn't come from a test in the office or the hospital," said Joseph Kvedar, director of the Center for Connected Health.
Friday, March 29, 2013 | InformationWeek Healthcare
Clinical Spotlight Episode 4: Joseph Kvedar, MDJoseph Kvedar, MD, founder and director of the Center for Connected Health, chats with Bernie Monegain, Editor of Healthcare IT News, about the Center's mobile health plans.
Thursday, February 21, 2013 | Healthcare IT News
Kvedar: Mobile health offers value propositionsMobile health brings a revolution to healthcare, said Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, director of the Center for Connected Health in Boston, speaking during a Dec. 14 webinar presented by the Health Information Management and Systems Society.
Monday, December 17, 2012 | Clinical Innovation & Technology
Text messages: The workhorse of mobile health?At times, text messages seem to be the uncelebrated workhorse of mobile health, especially when you compare SMS to health apps in terms of the amount of attention each gets.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012 | MobiHealthNews
mHealth Summit 2012: Technology replaces doctors for some tasksOne of the biggest upsides to mHealth tools might be their ability to help providers use health care resources more efficiently. But at the mHealth Summit 2012, one speaker said he believes mobile technology can do a lot more than that.
Monday, December 10, 2012 | SearchHealthIT
Mobile Health Tech: From Novel Startups to Global IndustryLast week's mHealth summit in Washington, D.C., gave tech leaders an opportunity to evaluate the field and its future.
Monday, December 10, 2012 | The Atlantic
Growing mobile use raises data ownership issues at mHealth Summit 2012Mobile health tools, both consumer-facing and ones used by physicians, are contributing to the creation of more data related to patients' health than ever before. But this raises the question of who owns that data, and what kind of rights different parties have to access information.
Monday, December 10, 2012 | SearchHealthIT
Health Info Takes Center Stage On Mobile PhonesNearly a third of cell phone owners used their phones to look up health information in 2012, compared with 17% two years earlier, according to a new survey by the Pew Internet Project.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 | Information Week
mHealth: Improving the Continuity of Care Healthcare providers can improve outcomes and control costs by exploiting mobile technology, including patients’ own phones, to deliver more care beyond the walls of hospitals and clinics.
Monday, November 12, 2012 | HealthLeaders Media
Researchers study text messaging for cancer pain managementAs part of its Mobilizing for Health Initiative, the McKesson Foundation announced last week that has awarded a research grant to the Center for Connected Health in Boston, a division of Partners HealthCare, to develop a text messaging program to improve pain management in cancer patients.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 | FierceMobileHealthcare
Center for Connected Health to study SMS for managing cancer painFor the second year in a row, the Center for Connected Health at Partners HealthCare in Boston has received a McKesson Foundation research grant to develop and study a text messaging system that will help patients with a specific condition. This time, the unspecified grant will support SMS and voice response technology for managing pain associated with cancer treatment in hopes of reducing hospitalizations and improving outcomes.
Monday, October 29, 2012 | mobihealthnews
Center for Connected Health gets McKesson grant for mobile cancer programThe Center for Connected Health has been awarded a research grant from the McKesson Foundation to develop a text messaging and voice response program to improve pain management in cancer patients. The research will focus on improving clinical outcomes in pain management and decreasing hospitalization, officials say.
Friday, October 26, 2012 | HealthcareIT News
Center for Connected Health awarded McKesson Foundation grant to develop text messaging program for cancer pain managementThe Center for Connected Health announced it has been awarded a research grant from the McKesson Foundation’s Mobilizing for Health initiative, to develop a text messaging program to improve pain management in cancer patients. The research will focus on improving clinical outcomes in pain management and decreasing hospital utilization.
Thursday, October 25, 2012 | Center for Connected Health

News & Articles Show Less

Joseph Kvedar, MD Talks Mobile Health Technology in the Care SettingDr. Joseph Kvedar discusses how mobile health technology tools can be used in a transformative way.
Sunday, April 21, 2013 | HIT Consultant
In the wake of a Boston tragedy, mHealth holds promiseIn today's rapid response world, the smartphone is more than just a communications device. It's fast becoming a medical device.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 | mHIMSS
UCSF Heart Disease Study To Use Mobile AppsBig data trial will follow up to 1 million patients, who will use smartphones to transmit blood pressure and other data several times a day. "It's wonderful to see mainstream medicine paying this much attention to patient-derived data that doesn't come from a test in the office or the hospital," said Joseph Kvedar, director of the Center for Connected Health.
Friday, March 29, 2013 | InformationWeek Healthcare
Clinical Spotlight Episode 4: Joseph Kvedar, MDJoseph Kvedar, MD, founder and director of the Center for Connected Health, chats with Bernie Monegain, Editor of Healthcare IT News, about the Center's mobile health plans.
Thursday, February 21, 2013 | Healthcare IT News
Kvedar: Mobile health offers value propositionsMobile health brings a revolution to healthcare, said Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, director of the Center for Connected Health in Boston, speaking during a Dec. 14 webinar presented by the Health Information Management and Systems Society.
Monday, December 17, 2012 | Clinical Innovation & Technology
Text messages: The workhorse of mobile health?At times, text messages seem to be the uncelebrated workhorse of mobile health, especially when you compare SMS to health apps in terms of the amount of attention each gets.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012 | MobiHealthNews
mHealth Summit 2012: Technology replaces doctors for some tasksOne of the biggest upsides to mHealth tools might be their ability to help providers use health care resources more efficiently. But at the mHealth Summit 2012, one speaker said he believes mobile technology can do a lot more than that.
Monday, December 10, 2012 | SearchHealthIT
Mobile Health Tech: From Novel Startups to Global IndustryLast week's mHealth summit in Washington, D.C., gave tech leaders an opportunity to evaluate the field and its future.
Monday, December 10, 2012 | The Atlantic
Growing mobile use raises data ownership issues at mHealth Summit 2012Mobile health tools, both consumer-facing and ones used by physicians, are contributing to the creation of more data related to patients' health than ever before. But this raises the question of who owns that data, and what kind of rights different parties have to access information.
Monday, December 10, 2012 | SearchHealthIT
Health Info Takes Center Stage On Mobile PhonesNearly a third of cell phone owners used their phones to look up health information in 2012, compared with 17% two years earlier, according to a new survey by the Pew Internet Project.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 | Information Week
mHealth: Improving the Continuity of Care Healthcare providers can improve outcomes and control costs by exploiting mobile technology, including patients’ own phones, to deliver more care beyond the walls of hospitals and clinics.
Monday, November 12, 2012 | HealthLeaders Media
Researchers study text messaging for cancer pain managementAs part of its Mobilizing for Health Initiative, the McKesson Foundation announced last week that has awarded a research grant to the Center for Connected Health in Boston, a division of Partners HealthCare, to develop a text messaging program to improve pain management in cancer patients.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 | FierceMobileHealthcare
Center for Connected Health to study SMS for managing cancer painFor the second year in a row, the Center for Connected Health at Partners HealthCare in Boston has received a McKesson Foundation research grant to develop and study a text messaging system that will help patients with a specific condition. This time, the unspecified grant will support SMS and voice response technology for managing pain associated with cancer treatment in hopes of reducing hospitalizations and improving outcomes.
Monday, October 29, 2012 | mobihealthnews
Center for Connected Health gets McKesson grant for mobile cancer programThe Center for Connected Health has been awarded a research grant from the McKesson Foundation to develop a text messaging and voice response program to improve pain management in cancer patients. The research will focus on improving clinical outcomes in pain management and decreasing hospitalization, officials say.
Friday, October 26, 2012 | HealthcareIT News
Center for Connected Health awarded McKesson Foundation grant to develop text messaging program for cancer pain managementThe Center for Connected Health announced it has been awarded a research grant from the McKesson Foundation’s Mobilizing for Health initiative, to develop a text messaging program to improve pain management in cancer patients. The research will focus on improving clinical outcomes in pain management and decreasing hospital utilization.
Thursday, October 25, 2012 | Center for Connected Health
5 key takeaways on the future of mobile healthAt this week's HealthMart’12 Conference, a session focused on the future of mHealth adoption, usage and impact throughout the industry was led by Rob Havasy, technical architect for Partners Center for Connected Health.
Thursday, October 4, 2012 | HealthIT Exchange
Mobile healthcare's role in Meaningful Use continues to matureThe role of mobile healthcare in Meaningful Use continues to grow and mature, and likely will be prominent in Stage 3 efforts, according to Joseph Kvedar, M.D., director of the Boston-based Partners Center for Connected Health, who spoke last week on FierceHealthIT's most recent webinar, "mHealth's Impact on the Future of Meaningful Use."
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 | FierceHealthIT
How Mobile Technologies Fuel TeleHealth AdvancesEver since the first experiments with telemedicine, providers have been taking steps to move healthcare closer to where patients live and work. Now, mobile technology—epitomized by the millions of such apps already downloaded to smartphones, but also appearing in nearly unlimited form factors—is accelerating those steps.
Monday, September 17, 2012 | HealthLeaders Media
The Promise of mHealthEver since the first experiments with telemedicine, providers have been taking steps to move healthcare closer to where patients live and work. Now, mobile technology—epitomized by the millions of such apps already downloaded to smartphones, but also appearing in nearly unlimited form factors—is accelerating those steps.
Thursday, September 13, 2012 | HealthLeaders Media
Commentary: Can mHealth save Tom Brady's brain?The possibility that mobile health technology could share the spotlight with Tom Brady or Peyton Manning surfaced this week when the National Football League announced that it would donate $30 million in funding for medical research to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH). The unrestricted gift will go to the FNIH's new Sports and Health Research Program.
Friday, September 7, 2012 | mHIMSS
 

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