How Self-Monitoring and Data Sharing Produce Better Patient Outcomes

One hospital or office visit can leave patients with a lot of information to process, including diagnoses, treatment decisions, prescriptions, instructions for care, and critical steps that must be taken in between visits. Following the appointment, patients may feel overwhelmed or unable to remember what needs to be done. More than half of all patients do not remember their physicians’ recommendations and treatments unless prompted.¹

Clinicians must wait until they see the patient again weeks or months later, leaving them with a blind spot in disease management and potential medical issues. These blind spots can lead to poorer health outcomes, particularly when worsening symptoms are not quickly addressed. Patients need to be able to identify symptoms, manage medications and/ or equipment, and know when to call the clinician or go to the hospital.

Digital health advances make it easier for patients to self-monitor, manage medications, and share information with clinicians. When patients use technology to track and share their health data between visits, clinicians have the insights they need to manage and better understand the patient’s care journey so they can help improve outcomes and experiences. Self-monitoring and data sharing also result in significant reductions in hospitalization and hospital readmissions, reducing the burden on emergency care services.²

Technology can be used to track patient conditions, prompt patients to record timely health measures, and share these data with their clinician. Communication is vital to effective care. If patients are diagnosed early and adhere to treatments, they have better outcomes. If patients and clinicians have a better connection and more opportunity to communicate, patients are more likely to participate actively in their care and better understand how to manage outcomes. The easier it is for patients to report their information to their clinicians’ systems, the faster we can achieve better outcomes and experiences that affect the entire health care system.

Kota Kubo is cofounder and co-CEO of Ubie. For full article and more information, visit https://bit.ly/3xw3DaB

REFERENCES:

1. Knowles M. Study: majority of patients forget physician instructions. Becker’s Hospital Review. March 23, 2018. Accessed April 10, 2024. https://tinyurl.com/2s4kfkdf

2. McBain H, Shipley M, Newman S. The impact of self-monitoring in chronic illness on healthcare utilisation: a systematic review of reviews. BMC Health Serv Res. 2015;15:565. doi:10.1186/s12913-015-1221-5

3. Panahi S, Rathi N, Hurley J, Sundrud J, Lucero M, Kamimura A. Patient adherence to health care provider recommendations and medication among free clinic patients. J Patient Exp. 2022;9:23743735221077523. doi:10.1177/23743735221077523

4. Figueiredo M, Caldeira C, Chen Y, Zheng K. Routine self-tracking of health: reasons, facilitating factors, and the potential impact on health management practices. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2018;2017:706-714.