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

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.

Center for Connected Health Initiatives

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.

Research Materials & External Resources

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

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

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

Research Materials & External Resources

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

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

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

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

 

News & Articles Show More

Text messaging may improve prenatal care according to pilot study conducted by the Partners HealthCare Center for Connected HealthIn a pilot study developed as a collaboration between the Partners Center for Connected Health, Partners Community Health and the Lynn Community Health Center, 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.
Thursday, February 2, 2012 | Center for Connected Health
Texting For Prenatal HealthText messaging for health isn’t new. Patients are now dinged with messages on their phones about a range of health matters: from remembering to take their birth control pills to finding out the mercury content of their fresh fish. Now, a new study suggests that texting may be a fast, cheap and effective way to improve prenatal care, or at least boost prenatal doctor visits, among at-risk pregnant adolescents.
Thursday, February 2, 2012 | CommonHealth
AT&T offers to secure tablets, messages for healthcare“Text messaging is proving to be an effective way to engage patients in their care, improve patient satisfaction, and even improve clinical outcomes,” Dr. Joseph Kvedar, Founder and Director of the Center for Connected Health, Partners HealthCare, stated in the AT&T announcement. “Messaging programs have great potential for providing low-cost, accessible, educational messaging to patients, and we look forward to additional applications of these powerful tools for reaching diverse and large patient populations.”
Monday, January 23, 2012 | mobihealthnews
Sprint enters remote health businessThe gateway/hub service, while new in mHealth, is certainly welcome, according to Robert Havasy, customer operations manager for Partners Healthcare's Center for Connected Health in Boston.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 | FierceMobileHealthcare

News & Articles Show Less

Text messaging may improve prenatal care according to pilot study conducted by the Partners HealthCare Center for Connected HealthIn a pilot study developed as a collaboration between the Partners Center for Connected Health, Partners Community Health and the Lynn Community Health Center, 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.
Thursday, February 2, 2012 | Center for Connected Health
Texting For Prenatal HealthText messaging for health isn’t new. Patients are now dinged with messages on their phones about a range of health matters: from remembering to take their birth control pills to finding out the mercury content of their fresh fish. Now, a new study suggests that texting may be a fast, cheap and effective way to improve prenatal care, or at least boost prenatal doctor visits, among at-risk pregnant adolescents.
Thursday, February 2, 2012 | CommonHealth
AT&T offers to secure tablets, messages for healthcare“Text messaging is proving to be an effective way to engage patients in their care, improve patient satisfaction, and even improve clinical outcomes,” Dr. Joseph Kvedar, Founder and Director of the Center for Connected Health, Partners HealthCare, stated in the AT&T announcement. “Messaging programs have great potential for providing low-cost, accessible, educational messaging to patients, and we look forward to additional applications of these powerful tools for reaching diverse and large patient populations.”
Monday, January 23, 2012 | mobihealthnews
Sprint enters remote health businessThe gateway/hub service, while new in mHealth, is certainly welcome, according to Robert Havasy, customer operations manager for Partners Healthcare's Center for Connected Health in Boston.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 | FierceMobileHealthcare
Bringing HealthCare Home to the Patient: Video With Dr Joseph KvedarAt the recent mHealth Summit 2011 in Washington DC, one of the main themes was bringing healthcare home to the patient. Mobile technology would allow remote monitoring and communication of results to the healthcare team.
Thursday, December 8, 2011 | HealthWorks Collective
Doctor or patient? Who will drive mHealth?"Maybe, the doctor isn’t the center of the universe" said Dr. Joseph Kvedar, Director of the Center for Connected Health, at this week's mHealth Summit in DC.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011 | Healthcare IT News
What’s shaking in mobile health?Patient engagement. This actually is the over-arching theme I heard everywhere. Now that technology-based health tools of all shapes and sizes seem to be here to stay and that people seem to be at least trying them out, what everyone (including myself) is saying is, “Great that health portals, apps, and games are being used, but are they being used on a continued basis?”
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 | Ubiqi Health
Diabetes texting program gets a boostThe Center for Connected Health has received a research grant from the McKesson Foundation's Mobilizing for Health initiative to integrate a text-messaging program into an existing program at Massachusetts General Hospital to help diabetes patients better manage their condition.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 | Healthcare IT News
Center for Connected Health awarded McKesson Foundation Grant to develop text messaging program for diabetes patients The Center for Connected Health today announced it has received a research grant from the McKesson Foundation’s Mobilizing for Health initiative, to develop a text messaging program to help diabetes patients better manage their condition.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 | Center for Connected Health
How the Health-Care System Slows Mobile Medical TechnologyThe advent of cheaper sensors and wireless transmitters, along with ubiquitous computing power in the form of smart phones, is making it easier and easier for patients with chronic diseases to track their conditions at home. But many health-care providers seem reluctant to adopt these technologies.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011 | MIT Technology Review
Brookside Connects Pregnant Women to Care with Text MessagingWhether it’s information about purchasing carseats or a reminder to count their unborn baby’s kicks, text messages have increased meaning for a group of pregnant women at Brookside Community Health Center in Jamaica Plain.
Friday, September 30, 2011 | BWH Bulletin
Text Messaging Program for Pregnant Women Expands to Jamaica PlainIn light of the success of a pilot program that uses text messaging to encourage pregnant women to receive the proper amount of pre-natal care, Partners Community Health and Partners’ Center for Connected Health have expanded the program to Brookside Community Health Center in Jamaica Plain.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011 | Connect with Partners
Partners HealthCare is connecting pregnant women to care with text messagingPregnant moms at Brookside Community Health Center in Jamaica Plain will be participating in an innovative text messaging program that is designed to offer support and encourage the recommended level of prenatal care. The program is being piloted by Partners Community Health — an area of Partners HealthCare — and Partners’ Center for Connected Health.
Thursday, September 22, 2011 | Bay State Banner
Getting the messageA new program offered by the Center for Connected Health and Partners Community Health uses text messages to remind mothers-to-be about prenatal care tips.
Friday, September 9, 2011 | Jamaica Plain Gazette
Kvedar: Collaborative environment vital to mHealthPatients knowing that their health care provider is regularly reviewing their individual results dramatically improves adherence to wellness programs, according to Dr. Joseph Kvedar of the Center for Connected Health.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 | MobiHealthNews
Partners' mEHR app improves workflow, communication with patientsIt's not just physicians who want that bedside review, Robert Havasy, project specialist for Partners' Center for Connected Health told FierceMobileHealthcare. Patients, too, are eager for hospitals to get their mobile initiatives underway.
Thursday, August 4, 2011 | FierceMobileHealthcare
Partners HealthCare’s EHR goes mobileIt is not at all surprising that Partners made a big leap in mobile accessibility for its EHR. The IDN’s Center for Connected Health hosts a symposium on digital health issues every fall, including sessions on mobile health and related topics.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011 | MobiHealthNews
Hospitals not exempt from FDA app regulationHospital CIOs need to be careful about the apps they're creating, FDA experts warn.
Friday, July 29, 2011 | FierceMobileHealthcare
NewPublicHealth Q&A: Joseph Kvedar on Regulation of Smartphone AppsNewPublicHealth spoke with Joseph Kvedar, M.D, director of the Center for Connected Health in Boston about oversight of medical smartphone apps by the FDA.
Thursday, July 28, 2011 | New Public Health
Tapping into smart healthGrowing numbers of mobile applications are aimed at keeping patients engaged in their treatment.
Monday, May 16, 2011 | The Boston Globe
Health Care Providers Are Connecting with Mothers-To-Be Via CellphonesThe Lynn Community Health Center, collaborating with Partners Health Care and North Shore Medical Center, enrolled 25 pregnant women in the program, which is similar, though not identical, to the national text4baby campaign.* (It spans two months after birth, while the national plan goes for a full year). It was funded in part by Partners Community Benefits and the Verizon Foundation. The messaging and evaluation was provided by the Center for Connected Health.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 | Altarum Institute
Mothers-to-Be Are Getting the MessageText messaging has demonstrated early promise as a tool to promote healthy behavior.
Monday, February 7, 2011 | The New York Times
Text Messaging Improves Patient Medication AdherenceA recent study by the Center for Connected Health reported that daily text messages providing medication reminders and educational information about atopic dermatosis (a type of eczema) improved treatment adherence and self-care behaviors for patients.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011 | The Female Patient
Pregnant Women in Lynn Benefit from Text MessagingPartners HealthCare’s text-messaging program has been successful in encouraging pregnant women in Lynn to get the proper amount of pre-natal care.
Friday, January 14, 2011 | Connect with Partners
mHealth program reaches out to community patientsView a video of the Center for Connected Health's Rob Havasy discuss the Center's trial text messaging program offered to pregnant women and substance abusers. Rob presented data from the study at the recent mHealth Summit.
Friday, November 19, 2010 | SearchHealthIT.com
Texting for healthy babiesA text messaging program funded by Partners HealthCare has been successful in encouraging pregnant women in Lynn to get the proper amount of pre-natal care.
Monday, November 8, 2010 | Boston Business Journal
Expecting moms get encouragement, medical reminders via text messagesA new text messaging program is being offered to encourage expecting mothers in Lynn to get the proper amount of prenatal care and tips to stay on the right track for a healthy pregnancy.
Sunday, November 7, 2010 | The Daily Item
Text Messaging Significantly Improved Patient Adherence, Self-Care and Quality of Life, According to New Data From the Center for Connected HealthA recent study conducted by the Center for Connected Health, was the first to combine medication reminders with educational information, which may lead to the use of text messaging as an important way to educate patients and support positive behavior change.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 | Center for Connected Health
Text Messages Boost Patient Outcomes Automated text reminders about medicine and skin care improved dermatology patient outcomes in study by the Center for Connected Health.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 | InformationWeek
Text Messages May Be Way to Improve Eczema ManagementThere’s a lot of attention paid to why people don’t take prescribed medications or other treatments. Joseph Kvedar, director of the Center for Connected Health, thinks one reason is often underestimated: people just plain old forget.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 | The Wall Street Journal
Text messages little help in remembering the PillThe finding comes as a surprise to some researchers who have seen benefits of text message reminders for everything from keeping kids inhaling their asthma medicine to sunbathers applying sunscreen. "We've been surprised at how big a factor reminders can be," Dr. Joseph Kvedar, who is director for The Center of Connected Health in Boston and was not involved in the new study, told Reuters Health. "And it's so simple."
Thursday, September 2, 2010 | Reuters
US researchers eye mobiles for healthWith reminder text messages or more customised two-way interactions, US researchers are trying to harness the power of mobile phones to help fight chronic diseases.
Monday, August 2, 2010 | All Fitness News
mHealth: Telemedicine delivers patient decision support Mobile healthcare technology is delivering decision support right now, but it’s not all for clinicians, according to panelists at the World Congress second annual leadership summit on mHealth in Boston last week. "So much of what we’ve learned from using connected health is that success is about drawing patients into their care and about allowing patients to care for themselves,” said Joseph Kvedar, MD, Director of the Center for Connected Health.
Sunday, August 1, 2010 | HealthImaging.com
Mobile Health Requires Grasping Smartphone, User ConnectionHealth-care providers looking to implement a mobile strategy need to understand the strong bond people have with their smartphones, said panelists Friday at the World Congress' Summit on mHealth in Boston. Robert Havasy, an analyst with Partners Healthcare System's Center for Connected Health, also discussed the importance of personalization in mobile health.
Friday, July 30, 2010 | PCWorld
From Texting To Apps, Using Cell Phones For HealthWhat if my blood sugar's too high today? Is it time for my blood pressure pill? With nagging text messages or more customized two-way interactions, researchers are trying to harness the power of cell phones to help fight chronic diseases.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 | The Associated Press
Apps for health issuesWhile the apps market is crowded with games, music, videos and other entertainment options, there are a growing number of interactive health applications that aim to help consumers better manage the way they eat, exercise, take their medicine and deal with stress.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010 | The News Journal
Mental Health Apps: Like A Therapist In Your PocketMobile phone applications are increasingly being developed and tested worldwide to help bolster treatment options for mental health patients. Several studies are being conducted to explore how the computing power of mobile phones can help patients monitor moods, follow treatment recommendations and manage stress.
Monday, May 24, 2010 | NPR
Cellphones Now Used More for Data Than for CallsFor many Americans, cellphones have become irreplaceable tools to manage their lives and stay connected to the outside world, their families and networks of friends online. But increasingly, by several measures, that does not mean talking on them very much.
Thursday, May 13, 2010 | New York Times
HopSkipConnect: Everyone, everyday, every way“Healthy behavior. Everyone. Everyday. Everyway.” That’s the ambitious mantra that the Center for Connected Health’s new launch, HopSkipConnect has adopted as its company’s mandate, according to CEO Rick Lee during a presentation at the Wireless Life-Sciences Alliance event in La Jolla, California.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 | mobihealthnews
Optimistic: $5.83 billion in savings from mHealthBy the year 2014 public and private healthcare providers may save between $1.96 billion and $5.83 billion in healthcare costs thanks to remote patient monitoring over cellular networks.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 | mobihealthnews
Tiny Tool, Huge PotentialThe ubiquitous iPhone is dazzling healthcare observers with its versatility, adaptability, and ease of use.
Monday, April 12, 2010 | For The Record
How Smartphones Are Changing Health Care for Consumers and ProvidersThe recent adoption and use of smartphones by both consumers and providers of health care are the focus of this timely report by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn.
Friday, April 9, 2010 | California HealthCare Foundation
Apps useful, familiar to tiny number of patientsPew Internet Research recently published a report that notes that for patients with two chronic illnesses, 52 percent are Internet users. Another Pew study found that 27 percent of patients over 65 years old define themselves as “e-patients”. The director of the Center for Connected Health, Joseph Kvedar, points to the latest Pew Research in the first post of his new Connected Health (cHealth) Blog.
Monday, March 29, 2010 | mobihealthnews
Why your phone is now the doctor in your pocketSmartphones will soon be diagnosing illness as well as advising on cures. Will we all become iPho-chondriacs?
Tuesday, March 2, 2010 | Times Online
Does mHealth need a doctor’s prescription?It’s a simple question: Do mobile health tools require a doctor’s prescription? Or will the main driver for mHealth services bubble up from consumers and patients largely without care providers weighing in?
Thursday, February 4, 2010 | mobihealthnews
Chopra to announce text message campaign for mothersU.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra kicked off a new text message campaign designed to deliver health information to pregnant women. The initiative, called "text4baby," aims to provide tips that could help curb premature births and infant health problems.
Thursday, February 4, 2010 | The Hill
Apple iPad: Healthcare industry weighs inHealthcare analysts, including the Center's Rob Havasy, react to Apple's new iPad and how it may effect the healthcare industry.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 | mobihealthnews
Study: 42 percent of U.S. uses a smartphoneRob Havasy, a business analyst at the Boston-based Center for Connected Health, penned a thoughtful column on the state of the mHealth market. Havasy’s central point is that mobile health solutions need to be “meaningful” and “available” to all patients.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 | mobihealthnews
Smartphones becoming clinical toolsA diagnostic laboratory, complete with an image reader and microscope, can fit into your back pocket. Smartphones -- rapidly being adopted by physicians for transferring medical information -- are turning into clinical tools.
Monday, December 21, 2009 | American Medical News
Survey: Parents want mobile diabetes managementClose to 70 percent of parents with children who have Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes had a “very positive” review of a mobile phone glucometer prototype that Partners Healthcare’s Center for Connected Health developed.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 | mobihealthnews
Mobile Phone Technology May Address Unmet Needs Of Parents Of Children With Diabetes, Sending Blood Sugar Readings Via Text, To Help Manage Child's IllnessIn a recent study conducted by the Center for Connected Health, new data revealed that parents of children with diabetes were receptive to using novel health technology – such as a mobile phone that could collect and transmit the child’s blood sugar readings to a doctor – to help manage their child’s diabetes. This study was published in the November issue of the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology (Volume 3, Issue 6, November 2009).
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 | PR Newswire
Study: Parents of Kids With Diabetes Receptive to Cell Phone GlucometerWhen we last discussed how cell phones could help people with diabetes in June 2008, the conversation centered around how the need for finger pricking could be reduced or eliminated using mobile technology. A new study was released today by the Center for Connected Health that says parents of kids with diabetes are very receptive to using cell phones to help manage their child's diabetes.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 | About.com Guide to Cell Phones
Cell Phone Text Messaging Technology is a Low-Cost, Effective Way to Improve Use of Sunscreen and Reduce Risk of Skin CancerA recent study conducted by the Center for Connected Health found that text messaging is an innovative, low-cost and effective way to improve the daily use of sunscreen, and this technology may have important implications for larger-scale public health initiatives.
Thursday, December 3, 2009 | PR Newswire
Text reminders increase sunscreen useText messaging is an effective tool for reminding patients to use sunscreen, as demonstrated by a study conducted by the Center for Connected Health.
Monday, November 23, 2009 | The Boston Globe
Text-Message Reminders to Improve Sunscreen UseThe Center for Connected Health conducted a randomized, controlled trial investigating the effect of an electronic text-message reminder system on adherence to sunscreen application.
November 2009 | Archives of Dermatology
Grant will support Center for Connected Health texting for prenatal careThe Center for Connected Health at Partners HealthCare System in Boston has received a $25,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation to expand a text-messaging pilot program for high-risk pregnant women.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 | FierceMobile Healthcare
 

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