MedStar Health awarded federal contract to develop data collection apps

As digital healthcare becomes the norm, gaining direct access to patient information has the potential to help clinicians make more informed, personalized decisions. Patient-reported outcome data capture quality of life, ongoing symptoms and daily activities. The data provide clinicians with a more comprehensive view of each patients care.

“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. 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,” said Neil Weissman, MD, chief scientific officer for MedStar Health and president of MedStar Health Research Institute. “The ongoing collaboration through the ACTION III network will help to advance the health of patients beyond our care sites and community.”

Awarded from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)’s Accelerating Change and Transformation in Organizations and Networks (ACTION III) program, the contract is one of three given to MedStar Health. A team of researchers—led by co-principal investigators Deliya Wesley, PhD, MPH, and Kathryn M. Kellogg, MD, MPH, with Raj Ratwani, PhD, serving as the project director—will support the development and testing of two apps matching health IT requirements and standards.

The apps will be pilot-tested and evaluated in 10 diverse primary and specialty care practices across MedStar Health and eight CAPRICORN primary care sites. Researchers will analyze the apps ability to collected patient data and its integration with electronic health record for clinical decisions, quality improvement, and research.