Digital Tools Successful For Health Management

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

Diabetes patients in a recent study reported better health when using a variety of digital health tools.

To study the effects of digital health tools on health management, Klick Health employed Survey Sampling International (SSI) to poll 2,000 patients with diabetes. Patients responded to questions about how they use technology to manage their health. MobiHealth News reports respondents were grouped into 3 categories:

• those who manage their health daily or weekly with integrated digital technologies (integrators)
• those who go online to seek health information on a monthly basis (seekers)
• those who don’t use the internet to manage their health at all (traditionalists)

The integrators group accounted for 18 percent of the sample, but 13 percent of integrators reported being in excellent health. Seekers made up 47 percent of the sample and 4 percent of seekers said they were in excellent health. Thirty-five percent were traditionalists, and only 2 percent of that group reported being in excellent health.

“Because it’s a survey based on self-reported health status, the data doesn’t prove that connected patients are actually healthier than non-connected patients. But it does provide evidence that either they’re healthier or they believe they’re healthier, which is significant in and of itself,” writes MobiHealth News.

Other key findings of the survey included:

• 19 percent of patients reported using mobile technology for a health-related activity
• Two-thirds said they would like an app to remind them to take their medication
• 75 percent wanted apps to connect them with their doctors
• 78 percent were open to sharing personally-collected health data with their doctors
• 80 percent of the mobile connected group were interested in having an app recommended to them by their doctor