“Imagine a world in which people, regardless of who they are or where they live, use state-of-the-art information and communications technologies with enthusiasm, proficiency and confidence, to achieve the highest possible levels of health.” – Dr. Alex Jadad, Centre for Global eHealth Innovation Founder, UHN
The use and access to health technology is on the rise. A recent project that has received media attention is the collaboration between UHN and Apple involving the newest Apple Watch to monitor cardiovascular health through various sensors which detect arrythmias, capture electrocardiograms, measure heart rate and estimate blood oxygen saturation. However, this study, which will be led by Dr. Heather Ross, the Division Head of Cardiology at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, is not the only novel work being done by her team at UHN to monitor and assess heart failure patients. Dr. Heather Ross has long worked with Dr. Joe Cafazzo, the Executive Director of eHealth Innovation @ UHN, on the development of digital therapeutics. eHealth Innovation is a research facility embedded in Toronto General Hospital with more than 70 designers, researchers and engineers. Since 2004, eHealth Innovation has been developing ground-breaking technologies to tackle some of healthcare’s biggest challenges, with the goal of promoting patient independence.
Medly – a collaboration between Drs. Heather Ross, Joe Cafazzo, and Emily Seto – is an example of one of the technologies developed by eHealth Innovation for chronic heart failure patients. The mobile app, classified by Health Canada as a Class II medical device, provides patients with self-care guidance and access to their care team from home. Patients take an active role in their own health management by submitting a set of readings (weight, blood pressure and symptoms) every morning, following which, an algorithm delivers instant actionable feedback, such as reminders to take prescribed medication or to contact the clinic. When the readings are taken, they are forwarded to the patient’s care team for follow-up, improving the patient’s peace of mind, while enhancing their relationship with the care team.
Since being launched at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Medly has led to a 50% reduction in heart failure-related hospitalizations and a 24% reduction in all-cause hospitalizations for those enrolled in the program. Further findings indicated improvements in risk factors of mortality and hospitalization, physical and emotional quality of life and patient self-care.
The team at eHealth Innovation is continuing to enhance Medly by adding features such as text and video chat. They are also working to expand the app for patients with multiple chronic comorbidities to provide a holistic model of care. Beyond Medly, eHealth Innovation also develops products to assist patients with diseases including diabetes, asthma and prostate cancer to name a few. eHealth Innovation is committed to developing digital health solutions and services to empower patients. The future is looking bright for healthcare technology.