Saif Khairat*, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States Carolyn Garcia, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States Track: Research Presentation Topic: Mobile & Tablet Health Applications Presentation Type: Rapid-Fire Presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Building: Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School Room: Auditorium Date: 2012-09-16 02:00 PM – 02:45 PM Last modified: 2012-09-12

If you are the presenter of this abstract (or if you cite this abstract in a talk or on a poster), please show the QR code in your slide or poster (QR code contains this URL).

Background: The need for improved diabetes care outcomes is paramount. Each year, 1.6 million cases are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and as of 2006; diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Moreover, the financial burden associated with diabetes was estimated to be $174 billion in 2007. Studies show that effective patient-provider communication (PPC) improves diabetes self-care, diabetes outcomes, or both. There has been significant number of studies aimed at improving diabetes care through different telehealth technologies such as patient web portals. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been limited amount of research done exploring the use of mobile technologies to improve diabetes care.
Objective: The aim of this research is to design, develop, and implement a user-centered smartphone application on diabetic patient’s mobile devices to improve PPC. The goal is to increase glucose level reporting, improve PPC through reminders and alerts, strengthen provider capacity for targeted case management, and improve insulin management and related health behaviors.
Methods: Smartphone applications that can run on multiple mobile platforms will be designed and piloted with Diabetes patients receiving care at a Federally Qualified Health Center. Prior to the design and development phase, patients will be asked to participate in a survey to identify and assess their current mobile phone brand, access to Wi-Fi, usage, and the availability of data plans. The survey provides an understanding of the most frequent platforms, and the use of cell phones to send and receive information. During the design and development, diabetic patients from different age groups and ethnic backgrounds will engage in focus group sessions that aim at bridging the gap between patients and developers.
Post development, patients will be invited to usability labs that aim to explain and test the functionalities of the application. The application will enable patients to report their blood glucose level, receive alerts and reminders, and provide educational modules to answer patient questions with regards to insulin use techniques (i.e. new pumps). Data generated from the application will be stored in a separate database management system that ties back to the clinic’s main Electronic Health Record (EHR).
Results: This study aims at improving care outcomes by measuring the levels of satisfaction, engagement, and awareness of patients after using mobile application, by conducting a comparative effectiveness study. Through the comparative study, we are interested to measure the level of care outcomes by assessing patient’s glucose levels retrospectively. Furthermore, on the design and development of a user-centered application, we aim to include our experiences combined with patient’s tips for building a mobile application for diabetes care.
Conclusions: The exponential growth of mobile technology and the widespread of diabetes among populations form a pressing need to bridge state of the art technology to improve diabetes care outcomes. This study aims to improve PPC by increasing glucose level reporting and by decreasing non-adherence levels and hence, improve diabetes care outcomes.