Wearable Health Technology and Electronic Health Record Integration: Scoping Review and Future Directions

Abstract

Background Due to the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and legislation on meaningful use in recent decades, health systems are increasingly interdependent on EHR capabilities, offerings, and innovations to better capture patient data. A novel capability offered by health systems encompasses the integration between EHRs and wearable health technology. Although wearables have the potential to transform patient care, issues such as concerns with patient privacy, system interoperability, and patient data overload pose a challenge to the adoption of wearables by providers. Objective This study aimed to review the landscape of wearable health technology and data integration to provider EHRs, specifically Epic, because of its prevalence among health systems. The objectives of the study were to (1) identify the current innovations and new directions in the field across start-ups, health systems, and insurance companies and (2) understand the associated challenges to inform future wearable health technology projects at other health organizations. Methods We used a scoping process to survey existing efforts through Epic’s Web-based hub and discussion forum, UserWeb, and on the general Web, PubMed, and Google Scholar. We contacted Epic, because of their position as the largest commercial EHR system, for information on published client work in the integration of patient-collected data. Results from our searches had to meet criteria such as publication date and matching relevant search terms. Results Numerous health institutions have started to integrate device data into patient portals. We identified the following 10 start-up organizations that have developed, or are in the process of developing, technology to enhance wearable health technology and enable EHR integration for health systems: Overlap, Royal Philips, Vivify Health, Validic, Doximity Dialer, Xealth, Redox, Conversa, Human API, and Glooko. We reported sample start-up partnerships with a total of 16 health systems in addressing challenges of the meaningful use of device data and streamlining provider workflows. We also found 4 insurance companies that encourage the growth and uptake of wearables through health tracking and incentive programs: Oscar Health, United Healthcare, Humana, and John Hancock. Conclusions The future design and development of digital technology in this space will rely on continued analysis of best practices, pain points, and potential solutions to mitigate existing challenges. Although this study does not provide a full comprehensive catalog of all wearable health technology initiatives, it is representative of trends and implications for the integration of patient data into the EHR. Our work serves as an initial foundation to provide resources on implementation and workflows around wearable health technology for organizations across the health care industry.

A Review of the State of the Art in Non-Contact Sensing for COVID-19

“…Therefore non-contact technologies for diagnosis are the preferred method. Wearable devices can also be used for monitoring vital signs [ 109 , 110 ]. This monitoring of vital signs can therefore be used to detect any displays of COVID-19 symptoms.…”

The Adoption, Issues, and Challenges of Wearable Healthcare Technology for the Elderly

“…However, there would also be benefits to bringing this data back into the healthcare setting; for example, allowing trained medical professionals to identify trends that could indicate a potential issue. A study [7] reviewed the trend of integrating data from these devices into patient electronic health records (EHRs). Best practices and workflows still need to be further explored and finalized.…”

Construction and Application of a Medical-Grade Wireless Monitoring System for Physiological Signals at General Wards

“…With the development of wearable technology, wearable devices have the capability to monitor different physiological signals and are more suited to be deployed at general wards because of their advantages of low-cost, remote and real-time monitoring [7][8][9][10]. In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) technology has become a hot-spot in recent years.…”

“…Rather than providing a bunch of data and increasing the burden of clinicians, researchers need to process what the wearable devices measure and show more further analysis results or conclusions based on evidence. Moreover, Dinh-Le et al [9] suggested that time-series physiological signals collected by wearable devices have the potential to be combined with electronic health records (EHRs) for analysis. It is also a reminder that the analysis of physiological signals separately may be difficult and the conclusion is not reliable, so integration with EHRs may be the key to finding a way out of the dilemma facing physiological signal analysis.…”