title: A mobile phone based remote patient monitoring system for chronic disease management.
abstract: Rising concern over the poor state of chronic disease management led to the user-informed design and development of a home tele-monitoring system. Focus groups with patients and primary care providers guided the research team towards a design that would accommodate the workflow and concerns of the healthcare providers and the low use and comfort with technology found among the patient population. The system was trialed in a before-and-after pilot study of 34 patients with diabetes and hypertension. Findings demonstrate a significant improvement in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. An RCT beginning in 2007 is being conducted to confirm these findings. It is hypothesized that this user-centred approach, utilizing focus groups, iterative design and human factors methods of evaluation, will lead to the next-generation of home tele-monitoring applications that are more intuitive, less cumbersome, and ultimately bring about greater patient compliance and better physician management.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, Toronto General Hospital, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trudel
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cafazzo
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamill
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Igharas
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tallevi
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Picton
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Rossos
authors.forename: Anthony C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Easty
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Logan
mesh_terms: D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods*; D040421:Cell Phone; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012648:Self Care; D017216:Telemedicine