Becker's Hospital Review

66 INNOVATION Can mobile health apps improve patient health? 7 report findings By Hannah Mitchell M obile health apps and wearable devices have surged, with the potential to track patients' health in between physi- cian visits. ese devices can improve patient health and offer an opportunity to incentivize healthy behaviors, according to a May 7 report published in Harvard Business Review. Researchers used data from hospitals, physicians, pharmacists and mobile health platforms to examine if a major mHealth app in Asia persuaded people to modify their lifestyle and reduce hospital visits and medical expenses over time. Seven study findings: 1. e adoption of mobile health apps led to improved short- term metrics, such as reduced blood glucose levels. e mo- bile health apps also improved long-term metrics, such as a reduction in hospital visits and medical expenses. 2. Patients who adopted the mobile health app increased their levels of exercise, consumed healthier food, increased their daily steps and slept longer daily. 3. Users of mobile health devices and apps can become more autonomous in self-regulating their behavior. is suggests that these devices should be subsidized by government agencies and insurance providers to cut the cost of hospital visits over time, the report said. 4. Generic messages with guidance to users were 18 percent more effective than personalized messages at reducing blood glucose levels over time. Some mobile health users felt the personalized messages were intrusive and annoying, which demotivated them and led to lower levels of wellness activities. 5. Personalized messages were more effective in reducing in-person doctor visits and replacing them with telehealth services. Post-experimental surveys revealed that the accu- racy of the personalized messages made patients comfortable with adopting telehealth services deployed by the platform. Thus, they were substituting their offline physician interac- tions with online ones. 6. e report suggests that healthcare communication teams run market research in their community to see how personalization affects patient preferences. 7. Health insurance companies could utilize mobile health de- vices and apps as an opportunity to personalize premiums. It could allow insurers to reward consumers who make the effort to exercise more, eat healthier and sleep longer with lower insur- ance premiums, the report found. n Northwell pours $1.3M into employees' innovation projects By Jackie Drees N orthwell Health said in May it awarded $1.3 million to four innovation projects spearheaded by the New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based health system's employees. The funding is part of Northwell's 2021 Innovation Challenge; the competition, now in its fifth year, allows employees to submit ideas and projects that will transform the industry. "Innovation and creativity are the essence of good organizations who strive to excel and move forward," Northwell Health Presi- dent and CEO Michael Dowling said in a May 5 news release. "We have a lot of innovation in the health system and these sub- missions are representative of what we've seen over the years at Northwell Health." The 2021 Innovation Challenge received 74 submissions, which were narrowed down to two finalists and two run- ners-up. The winning project in the "care delivery" category is developing a 3D device to support early detection of vari- ous ulcers; the winning project in the "science" category is in collaboration with General Electric and will focus on building a high intensity ultrasound simulation of the spleen to treat bleeding disorders. The winners each received $500,000 awards to take their concepts to market, and the runners-up got $150,000 each to support their projects. n Bose releases first direct-to- consumer hearing aids By Hannah Mitchell B ose released May 18 the first FDA-cleared direct-to-con- sumer hearing aid that users can adjust on their own using an app. Four details: 1. The hearing aid will be paired with the Bose Hear app, which users can use to fit, program and control their hearing aid in real-time. 2. The hearing aid does not require a physician visit, hearing test or prescription. It is designed for adults with mild to mod- erate hearing loss. 3. The hearing aid retails for $849.95 and comes with a 90-day risk-free trial. 4. It was launched May 18 in Massachusetts, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, with nationwide availabil- ity coming soon. n

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