As we often point out here, data from the “quantified self” could hold the key to solving a host of medical and health issues, lowering costs and improving outcomes through earlier diagnosis and treatment. Wearable Health Tech devices are creating mountains of data and the recent move to electronic health records (EHRs) means that a lot of valuable information could be made available to researchers. Unfortunately, there are many technical obstacles in the way before we can realize the full potential of all this data.
Two companies recently announced a partnership to create a medical research platform that can incorporate both patient-generated data (such as from wearables) and EHR data. Medable is a company that provides cloud-based services for healthcare. Redox has created an application program interface (API) to access EHR records to create standardized data models and interoperability. Together, they have launched a system that will allow a clinical researcher to build a mobile app for study participants without requiring the help of a developer. One of the key features is that the entire system is HIPAA-compliant.
The system is also designed to make it easier to integrate patient-generated data with EHR information, to provide better care and new insights. This means that researchers will be able to access a richer data set that combines results from hospitals and other clinical settings with data from wearable Health Tech devices, all in a secure system.
