Personal Connected Health Alliance Publishes Evidence Paper On State Of Connected Health; Issues Call To Action

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Personal Connected Health Alliance (PCHAlliance) today announced publication of a new research paper, Personal Connected Health: The State of the Evidence and a Call to Action, providing important insights and identifying a number of gaps and opportunities to validate personal connected health technologies.

The PCHAlliance strives to make health and wellness an effortless part of daily life.  As part of its efforts to ensure that its thought leadership, convening, collective action, and policy activities are grounded in evidence, the PCHAlliance conducted a systematic review of published literature to gather the available data on health outcome measures, reviewing over 1,450 citations. Fifty-three randomized controlled studies and trials were selected for analysis, on topics related to mobile technologies, remote patient monitoring, web-based counseling and other personal connected health technologies. This publication aims to set an initial baseline for the current body of evidence in personal connected health in key areas, namely behavior change and self-care, remote patient monitoring, remote counseling and mental health, as well as more broadly through key condition-specific studies.

"Personal connected health is growing, but adoption and evidence--a key driver for shaping the field--lag behind. We see many tools showing impressive results, but fail to provide solid evidence via clinical trials, particularly as demonstrated in real-world settings," said Patty Mechael, Executive Vice President, Personal Connected Health Alliance. "To achieve the full potential of personal connected health, we must not only look to innovation, but also to the evidence that demonstrates the impact such tools are having on health outcomes."

Based on this research, PCHAlliance is recommending six areas of focus for future research and investment in personal connected health:

• increased study size
• development and dissemination of consensus-based guidelines for research methodologies
• identification of approaches to accelerate research without compromising quality of results
• validation of apps and devices in comparative studies
• initiation of studies to explore new ways for individuals to take more control to improve their health
• development and promotion of a Research Priority Agenda for personal connected health

"This is a solid beginning, but much work needs to be done to develop an evidence base for personal connected health. We will continue to assess and document the state of the evidence, and work with research institutions to conduct more rigorous studies and test out more rapid approaches to research to better assess what motivates healthier behaviors by building real-world evidence in more effective multi-site and large-scale trials," Mechael added. "PCHAlliance will continue to push the agenda and foster important collaborations in order to validate personal connected health tools and improve health and wellbeing throughout the world."

Personal Connected Health Alliance
The Personal Connected Health Alliance (PCHAlliance) aims to make health and wellness an effortless part of daily life. The PCHAlliance, a non-profit organization formed by HIMSS, believes that health is personal and extends beyond healthcare. The Alliance mobilizes a coalition of stakeholders to realize the full potential of personal connected health. PCHAlliance members are a vibrant ecosystem of technology and life sciences industry icons and innovative, early stage companies along with governments, academic institutions, and associations from around the world. To support its vision, PCHAlliance convenes the global personal connected health community at the annual Connected Health Conference, the premier international event for the exchange of research, evidence, ideas, innovations and opportunities in personal connected health. The Alliance publishes and promotes adoption of the Continua Design Guidelines. Continua is recognized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as the international standard for safe, secure, and reliable exchange of data to and from personal health devices. PCHAlliance accelerates technical, business, policy and social strategies necessary to advance personal connected health through its flagship Healthy Longevity initiative to promote lifelong health and wellness.

SOURCE Personal Connected Health Alliance