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Review
. 2016 Oct;47(1):45-50.
doi: 10.1007/s10840-016-0136-3. Epub 2016 Jun 15.

Transforming the care of atrial fibrillation with mobile health

Mintu P Turakhia  1   2   3 , Daniel W Kaiser  4
Affiliations
Review

Transforming the care of atrial fibrillation with mobile health

Mintu P Turakhia et al. J Interv Card Electrophysiol. 2016 Oct.

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a multifaceted and highly variable disease that is often difficult to manage within the traditional health-care model. The conventional model of regular or pre-scheduled appointments with physicians or allied health professionals is poorly suited to the unpredictable and often urgent clinical needs of patients with AF. Mobile health (mHealth) has the potential to dramatically transform the delivery and quality of AF care. In this brief review, we summarize the current limitations and evidence gaps in treating patients with AF. We then describe the current mHealth landscape, changes in telehealth coverage and reimbursement, and recent technological advances of smartphones, mobile applications, and connected wearable devices. We also describe important barriers and challenges, such as clinical management of large volumes of data, application of predictive analytics/machine learning, and the need for high-quality randomized clinical trials.

Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Digital health; Mobile apps; Mobile health; Smartphone; Wearables.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Landscape of atrial fibrillation monitoring devices
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Application screenshots from the AliveCor iPhone mobile application (version 3.2)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Shore S, Carey EP, Turakhia MP, Jackevicius CA, Cunningham F, Pilote L, et al. Adherence to dabigatran therapy and longitudinal patient outcomes: insights from the Veterans Health Administration. Am Heart J 2014;167(6):810–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shore S, Ho PM, Lambert-Kerzner A, Glorioso TJ, Carey EP, Cunningham F, et al. Site-level variation in and practices associated with dabigatran adherence. JAMA 2015;313(14):1443–50. - PubMed
    1. Turakhia MP, Ullal AJ. US health care policy and reform: implications for cardiac electrophysiology. J Interv Card Electrophysiol 2013;36(2):129–36. - PubMed
    1. Pew Research Center, April, 2015, The smartphone difference http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/.

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