Collection of patient-generated health data with a mobile application and transfer to hospital information system via QR codes

Background and Objective

The collection of patient-generated health data (PGHD) is important for understanding a patient's daily status for efficient treatment. Mobile applications are effective for continuously collecting patient data, and it is desirable to promptly integrate such data into electronic medical records. However, most hospital information systems have limited connections with external mobile applications. Therefore, in this study, we developed a simple system that can collect data from patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and transfer the data to electronic medical records without a direct connection to a hospital information system.

Methods

We developed patient-facing mobile applications and physician-facing user-defined form templates for the hospital information system. The PGHD were transferred via QR codes using a two-way linkage. The persistence rates were measured and analyzed to clarify the factors affecting the continuous usage of the application.

Results

A mobile application connected to a hospital information system was implemented and used in on-site operations. Among patients with IBD using this application, 84.6%–91.7% continued to use it over six months and 72.2%–84.5% continued for over one year. Particularly, patients who used the application during the first two visits tended to be significantly frequent users.

Conclusions

We developed a mobile application connected to a hospital information system using a QR code, which is a simple way to continuously collect data from patients and enables physicians to use the data efficiently for patient-centered medical care.