Dive Brief:
- MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper has launched a pilot program in collaboration with Polaris Health Directions, a behavioral health technology company, distributing 30 Apple Watches to breast cancer patients in different stages of treatment.
- The device will be used by patients to input answers to questions about mood, symptoms, treatment side effects, etc. Physicians will use it to capture heart rate and activity data to anticipate potential medical issues and provide early intervention. Researchers also hope the Apple Watch will enhance communication and the patients' experiences.
- The nine-month feasibility study includes 30 patients ranging in age from the mid-30s to late-70s, and should help answer questions regarding demographics and engagement.
Dive Insight:
Patients in the study will use an app called emPower that will run on the Apple Watch and the user's phone.
Mark Redlus, senior vice president at the Polaris Innovation lab, said his group spent six months engineering the application and making sure the devices would be secure and HIPAA-compliant.
Redlus added the benefit of patients being able to actually see the interactions between activity and heart rate levels and how those affect mood, anxiety, and distress, "is something we look forward to seeing and we hope that it really changes not just the treatment regimen, but the overall patient well-being and how they feel throughout the process."
The clinical group is hopeful patient engagement will be high. "Something that [medical project lead] Dr. Cori McMahon talks about a lot is the exciting thing about the watch and the phone together as it really puts the power back in the hands of the patient for a change," Redlus told MobiHealthNews.