Integrating Wearables with EHR-Benefits & Challenges
Wearable devices comprise a broad spectrum of devices worn on a person’s body. These include smartwatches, fitness trackers such as VR headsets, smart jewelry, web-enabled glasses, Fitbit devices, and Bluetooth headsets. These devices are embedded with built-in sensors. Such sensors keep track of body movements besides assisting with location tracking and providing biometric identification. Some of the most common types of wearables, such as smartwatches and activity trackers, can be strapped around a user’s wrist. These devices can monitor their vitals and physical activity on a 24/7 basis. The question now arises whether it is beneficial to integrate wearables with Electronic Health Records Software.
Wearables and Health Information Technology
Due to the upheaval in the healthcare systems worldwide, especially in the post-pandemic scenario, there has been an upsurge in the thought of including wearables as an essential part of health information technology. Many wearables include the ability to track fitness data, oxygen saturation levels, distance, and GPS routes. Such information can be easily correlated with the physical activity of an individual. Because body-worn sensors can easily track an individual’s physical activity, the collected data can be sent to clinicians and other healthcare professionals for further evaluation and recording in a permanent format.
Since an EHR is a digital version of a patient’s recorded information, it makes sense if the data from wearable devices can be integrated into an EHR for further consideration.
Some of the benefits of integrating wearable data into EHRs are described below:
· Tracking Patient Vitals
A lot of data generated from wearables can be helpful to a medical practitioner or a clinician. For example, data generated from a wellness band such as blood pressure, pulse rate, muscle activity, perspiration level, glucose level, ECG, core temperature, oxygen saturation, stress levels, and eating habits can be transferred electronically to the EHR software as a supplemental record of patient health, giving the physician a deeper understanding of the patient’s wellness and well-being.
· Management of Chronic Diseases
Data from activity trackers for patients suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes can give a physician enough indication of whether the patient strictly follows the treatment regimen. Moreover, many patients suffering from high blood pressure or hypertension find it extremely difficult to reach the goal of normal blood pressure under the care of a provider. Therefore, integrating such data into an EHR can help add an extra layer of monitoring for such patients and help motivate them to achieve their goals.
· Tracking Mental Health
Currently, available devices can measure several components, such as skin temperature, heart rate, and breathing, which indicate their capability to detect stress and anxiety symptoms. Such data could be of immense use to physicians to track the mental health of their patients.
· Rehabilitation:
Chronically ill patients and those in rehab must be monitored continuously. These patients can be given wearable devices to make monitoring more manageable, especially outside the hospital environment. Secondly, this type of monitoring also reduces the overall cost of in-hospital care for a patient. Data can be continuously transferred to an EHR so the clinician can constantly monitor a patient’s health.
Challenges in EHR Integration with Wearables
Here are some obstacles to tackle in integrating wearables data into EHR:
· Privacy and Security
Wearables can collect several types of data that can be deemed personal and not just health information. They can even track geographical location, living habits, and individual behavior. So, potential data breaches can occur. Healthcare systems must ensure adequate safeguards are in place to protect personal information and maintain patient trust.
· Technical Issues
Due to the low sensitivity of the sensors in certain inexpensive wearables, benign clinical signals may be reported as “false positive” by the device. This is disturbing, and providers will need to follow up on such data, imposing an additional administrative burden on an already overburdened staff. Wearables also consume significant battery life if they must store, transmit, and sync data with EHR service software. Battery wear-out issues can cause considerable data gaps causing data interpretation issues.
· Legal Issues
Legal Issues can cause a hindrance due to the shifting of responsibility for clinicians, who may be already inundated with loads of health-related information and issues. Wearable integration with EHRs, therefore, can pose a significant legal and administrative burden. A legal framework must be put in place to outline the responsibilities and expectations in the case of providers handling potentially unreliable data. Moreover, EHRs should record only “meaningful data” as defined by legislation. It is doubtful that all data sent by wearable devices could be considered meaningful as there are variations in data.
Final Thoughts
Technological advances in wearable — EHR integration represent innovations in the healthcare field. This progress can integrate real-time health information into a patient’s medical record, thus opening many possibilities for better health outcomes. Nevertheless, there are still challenges that need to be overcome. Connect with OmniMD for EHR software that helps you maximize your investment. Contact us to know more!
