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Using mHealth to Support Heart Health

February is a month to reflect on matters of the heart, including heart health. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), which includes heart disease and stroke, is the leading cause of death in the United States. About half of adults in the United States have at least one major CVD risk factor, and certain demographic groups face elevated risk.

Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation (MCRF), a division of Marshfield Clinic (a HRSA primary health care and rural health grantee), is putting heart health at patients’ fingertips with a mobile app to identify and reduce CVD risk.

Developing the Heart Health Mobile App

A multidisciplinary team at MCRF designed the Heart Health Mobile app to promote heart health among today’s mobile and digitally connected population.

MCRF developed Heart Health Mobile for the Million Hearts Risk Check Challenge, a competition sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Million Hearts™ Campaign and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). For its development and support of the winning app, MCRF will receive an award of $100,000.  

MCRF designed Heart Health Mobile to:

• Engage individuals potentially at risk for CVD;
• Inform them of their heart health risk, and;
• Motivate them to take action.

Available free from the iTunes App Store, the app will soon be available for other devices.

Using Heart Health Mobile

Heart Health Mobile identifies and supports actionable steps to help users control their CVD risk. Key features include:

• An interactive risk assessment tool. Users enter their risk factors including age, weight, smoking status, blood pressure, and cholesterol. As users enter more data, risk levels adjust accordingly.
• A GPS-enabled map that identifies nearby screening locations and prompts users to call and schedule appointments to obtain current blood pressure and cholesterol numbers if unknown.
• The ability to adjust risk factors to display how lifestyle and health changes could impact CVD risk.
• User progress tracking to enable self-monitoring of changes in heart health risk over time.
• Multi-lingual support, notifications and reminders, and educational materials to help users better understand and manage their heart health.
• Social media integration so users can share the app.
• Games to enrich the user experience.

Lessons Learned and the Road Ahead

MCRF identified two keys to success based on its experience designing the Heart Health Mobile app.

• Use a team based approach. The Heart Health Mobile team included providers, researchers, and legal and health IT staff. Having a team with varied perspectives and expertise supported the development of a robust app.
• Let users drive the design. MCRF recognized that understanding and incorporating users’ needs and preferences during the design process would help create a more effective app.

In the future, MCRF would like to look at linking Heart Health Mobile to the patient portal to advance Heart Health Mobile as a tool that not only activates patients, but also enhances the patient-provider connection.

Resources

• Download Heart Health Mobile for free at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heart-health-mobile/id581978737?mt=8. Heart Health Mobile is currently compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Heart Health Mobile will also be available as a web application at www.hearthealthmobile.com, set for release in early March 2013.
• Learn more about CVD, mHealth, and the Million Hearts Risk Check Challenge at the sites below.
  • About Heart Disease & Stroke: Consequences and Costs. Million Hearts™. 
  • About Heart Disease & Stroke: Risk Factors. Million Hearts™. 
  • mHealth. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
  • mHealth - Mobile Health Technologies. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
  • Million Hearts Risk Check Challenge. Million Hearts™ and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).
  • News Release: Winner of Million Hearts Risk Check Challenge Competition Announced. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).