Use of patient-generated health data across healthcare settings: implications for health systems

The growing prevalence of chronic conditions requiring changes in lifestyle and at-home self-management has increased interest in and need for supplementing clinic visits with data generated by patients outside the clinic. Patient-generated health data (PGHD) support the ability to diagnose and manage chronic conditions, to improve health outcomes, and have the potential to facilitate more "connected health" between patients and their care teams; however, health systems have been slow to adopt PGHD use in clinical care.

We surveyed current and potential users of PGHD to catalog how PGHD is integrated into clinical care at an academic health center. The survey included questions about data type, method of collection, and clinical uses of PGHD. Current users were asked to provide detailed case studies of PGHD use in research and care delivery.

Thirty-one respondents completed the survey. Seventeen individuals contributed detailed case studies of PGHD use across diverse areas of care, including behavioral health, metabolic and gastrointestinal conditions, musculoskeletal/progressive functional conditions, cognitive symptoms, and pain management. Sensor devices and mobile technologies were the most commonly reported platforms for collection. Clinicians and researchers involved in PGHD use cited the potential for PGHD to enhance care delivery and outcomes, but also indicated substantial barriers to more widespread PGHD adoption across healthcare systems.

The results of our survey illustrate how PGHD is used in targeted areas of one healthcare system and provide meaningful insights that can guide health systems in supporting the widespread use of PGHD in care delivery.