Columbia, Md.-based MedStar Health plans to pilot two apps that collect patient-reported outcome data for clinical and research use, the health system confirmed June 18.
MedStar Health will pilot the apps as part of an 18-month federal contract with HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Washington, D.C.-based Georgetown University and the Capital Area Primary Care Research Network — or CAPRICORN — Practice-Based Research Network are collaborators on the project. CAPRICORN is a network of family medicine practices based out of Washington, D.C., that aim to improve care delivery and engage in primary care research.
MedStar Health will pilot the two apps at 10 of its affiliated primary and specialty care practices and eight CAPRICORN primary care sites to evaluate how well the technology is able to capture patient-reported outcome data on physical functioning. Along with collecting data, the apps are also meant to integrate this information into health IT systems, such as EHRs.
"Ensuring that patients have a way to report on outcomes that are meaningful to them is critical to the delivery of safe and effective care," Neil Weissman, MD, chief scientific officer of MedStar Health and president of MedStar Health Research Institute, said in a June 18 statement. "The growth of data science as part of clinical care is helping us at MedStar Health to turn this data into improved quality of life for our patients."