Novant Health adds fitness tracker data to its patient portal

Novant Health

Novant Health is about to add a new feature to its MyChart portal, allowing patients to share data from their fitness tracker with their doctor.

50% of MyChart registered users actively log in to the portal every month.By integrating with Fitbit and Apple HealthKit, more than 430,000 MyChart users will be able to submit data from personal fitness devices, such as smart scales and wearable fitness trackers, directly to their doctors.

According to Epic Systems, Novant is already a leader in patient engagement with MyChart, with 50% of registered users actively logging in to the patient portal every month. And now that the wearable technology is supported, the organization expects its MyChart engagement to continue to climb adding to the many conveniences of the tool.

“Fitness trackers can be excellent motivators and, as a physician, I’m very excited about any technology that helps to keep my patients engaged with their health,” said Keith E. Griffin, MD, chief medical information officer for the Novant Health medical group. “By connecting MyChart with popular health tracking technology, we can give patients even more options for keeping their doctors up to date on their health between office visits.”

MyChart gives patients controlled access to the same Epic medical records their doctors use, via browser or mobile app.MyChart gives patients controlled access to the same Epic medical records their doctors use, via browser or mobile app. Through MyChart, patients can view laboratory results, a summary of care, snapshots of their current medications and more. They can also email their doctors, request prescription refills and pay bills electronically.

The new feature will be available through Track My Health in MyChart from where the data collected will be synced with the system.

More than 51 million new wearable fitness trackers were estimated to have been purchased in 2014. While there hasn’t been a large scale research study pointing to the outcomes and use of these types of devices to manage patients or improve outcomes, many physicians believe that wearable devices are holding more people accountable when it comes to how much activity they get in a day.