Connecting Healthcare Providers with Patients through Mobile Technology: Formula for Shared Decision Making and Improved Patient Outcomes

Background: Integration of mobile devices/health-related apps into medical practice is transforming healthcare. A new app powered by IBM Watson, Multiple Sclerosis @Point of Care for clinicians and its patient companion app, is a practice-based tool designed to provide shared decision making between the clinician and patient by syncing with patient data. IBM Watson and the cognitive learning tool answers questions clinicians pose to improve patient outcomes. 

Objectives: This analysis evaluates how specialists use these apps, questions they address, mobile devices used to access the apps, and how they can improve patient care.

Methods: To assess how clinicians utilize/value the Multiple Sclerosis @Point of Care dashboard and patient companion app as well as how patients connect with their clinicians utilizing the companion app, Projects In Knowledge, the CME provider, analyzed data collected from participating clinicians caring for MS patients (~10,000+) and their participating patients. Data included demographic information, clinician and patient monthly access frequency, mobile devices used to access apps, clinicians’ questions posed to Watson, clinicians’ self-reported impact of content on their patients’ health outcomes, number of patient app users, and number of patient journal entrees (including fatigue scale and adherence records). 

Results: Overall findings: 1) clinicians and their patients use the Multiple Sclerosis @Point of Care clinician app and patient companion app, respectively, enabling clinicians to sync with their patients’ data to improve outcomes; 2) many clinicians agree the clinician app, Multiple Sclerosis @Point of Care, and the synched patient data from the companion app provide timely, relevant information that positively impacts their patients’ health outcomes; 3) increasing numbers of patients are using the companion app to enter their data, track their MS management, and share this data with their clinicians; 4) the fatigue scale entries continue to increase and represent valuable information for their treating clinicians. 

Conclusions: Management of MS is evolving rapidly and the findings of this analysis show the Multiple Sclerosis @Point of Care dashboard and patient companion app, respectively, facilitate the interface of clinicians and MS patients for shared decision making that support strategies for practice change and improved patient outcomes through point of care accessibility.