Study: Using the Mobile Health App for Diabetes Patients to Improve Health Outcomes and Lower Medical Costs
A new study examined the health and economic effects of mobile health (mHealth) technologies on outcomes in diabetes patients in Asia. Intelligent technologies emerged that are changing the way patients track information about diagnosed diseases.
The study, conducted by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and New York University, found that patients who used mHealth applications had better health outcomes and were able to regulate their health behaviors more effectively than patients who did not use these apps less Hospital visits and lower medical costs.
“Given the importance of health behaviors to well-being, health outcomes and disease processes, mHealth technologies offer significant potential to facilitate patient lifestyle and behavior change through patient education, improved autonomous self-regulation and perceived competence,” said the study co -Author Beibei Li, Professor of Information Systems and Management at CMU’s Heinz College, in a press release.
MHealth’s rapidly growing area includes mobile computing, medical sensors and communication technologies for health services. mHealth applications can run on smartphones, tablets, sensors and cloud-based computer systems that collect all health data from people.
The researchers wanted to find out how mHealth applications induce individuals to change their behavior to match recommended approaches to achieving specific health goals. Next, the researchers measured compliance by examining detailed patient activities such as daily walking steps and sleep patterns as measured by the app, as well as general health outcomes, hospital visits and medical expenses, according to the press release.
The researchers have partnered with a leading mHealth company that offers one of Asia’s largest mobile health platforms specializing in diabetes. In the study, 1070 adult patients were randomly assigned to different groups for 3 months: patients who use the mHealth app, patients who do not use the app, and patients who use a web-based version of the app.
In the group of patients using the mHealth app, some received personalized SMS reminders while others received non-personalized text messages. The researchers surveyed all participants before the start of the study and 5 months after the start of the study.
Questions asked included questions about demographics, medication and medical history, blood sugar and hemoglobin levels, frequency of hospital visits, and medical costs, according to the press release.
The results showed that patients who used the mHealth app lowered their blood sugar and hemoglobin levels even after checking the individual effects on an individual level. Patients who used the app also exercised more, slept more, and ate healthier, with fewer hospital visits and lower medical costs.
The study’s authors suggest that patient acceptance and use of the mHealth app was linked to significant behavioral changes toward healthier diets and lifestyles. The users were self-regulated more autonomously with their health behavior. This increased intrinsic motivation helped them become more engaged, persistent, and stable in their behavior, which led to improved health outcomes. According to the study, the mHealth platform also enabled increased use of telemedicine, which in turn led to fewer hospital visits and lower medical costs for patients.
In addition, the study found that mHealth was more effective at improving patient health outcomes than a web-based version of the same app. The researchers also found that non-personalized text messages tend to be more effective at changing patient behavior than personalized messages, possibly because personalized messages can be viewed as intrusive, compulsive, and annoying.
Limitations of the study include focusing on participants with type 2 diabetes, which is different from type 1 diabetes or gestational diabetes and is directly related to diet or lifestyle self-management.
“Our results provide important insights into the design of mHealth apps through a better understanding of patient health behaviors and interactions with the platform,” said study co-author Anindya Ghose, professor of economics at the Stern School of Business NYU, in a press release. “This knowledge can be of great value to both healthcare mobile platform developers and policy makers in improving the design of smart and connected healthcare infrastructures through the sustainable use of emerging technologies.”
REFERENCE
Using the diabetes patient’s mobile health app has improved health outcomes and reduced medical costs. Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College. https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/media/2021/Februar/diabetes-patients-use-of-mobile-health-app-found-to-improve-health-outcomes-lower-medical-costs. Published February 25, 2021. Accessed February 26, 2021.
