Dive Brief:
- Cerner has partnered with the digital health platform Validic in order to enable patients to upload health data into their online HealtheLife patient portal and, if they choose, directly into their electronic health record.
- Patients will be able to utilize data from health and fitness-related devices and apps.
- Cerner suggests the data will be clinically relevant in that it will offer insight into patients' typical daily health, providing context for data obtained when something has brought a patient in for care.
Dive Insight:
Cerner says the collaboration is an effort toward improving the well-being of individuals and communities. "To be successful, it is critical to provide access to actionable data on a regular basis, not just what's collected when someone goes to the doctor," said Brian Carter, Cerner's senior director and general manager, personal health, in a prepared statement.
Perhaps even more importantly, the companies are most certainly looking the the potential for driving patient engagement.
"Given Validic is device- and platform-agnostic, our alignment provides a much broader reach to clinical and wellness data to help propel our digital health strategy to healthcare organizations we serve, including the acceleration of remote patient monitoring, telehealth and wellness initiatives," Carter wrote.
There are some questions marks here over whether physicians know yet how to incorporate this kind of data into their treatment programs in a meaningful way.