UPMC Adult Spina Bifida Clinic Leverages Xealth to Make Complex Self-care and Monitoring Simpler

Integrating the iMHere mobile health system into clinician EHR workflows simplifies the enrollment process and ability to monitor treatment.

The UPMC Adult Spina Bifida Clinic is making it easier to enroll people with chronic conditions like spina bifida into mobile health systems that support them in their care by leveraging the electronic health record (EHR) workflow integration through Xealth. The iMHere mobile health system includes an app that helps patients with conditions like spina bifida manage their complex self-care and helps clinicians monitor their self-care regimens.

By integrating the app into the electronic health record, clinicians can order iMHere for patients directly from their EHR workflow. The patient is sent an alert to download the app. After the patient enrolls, data coming from the app appears in a dashboard in the clinical record.

“Using iMHere with Xealth allows us to monitor how well patients are doing in between visits. It gives us information such as whether they consistently take medications, adhere to regimens to manage their bowel or bladder, experience problems with mood, or participate in healthy eating or exercise. It also provides the patient with educational information about their condition and a personal health record tailored to living with a chronic condition,” said Brad Dicianno, MD, Director of the UPMC Adult Spina Bifida Clinic.

“We enlisted a digital health integration and deployment partner, Xealth, to place a dashboard displaying the use of iMHere inside the EHR interface, so that a clinician can access it within their day-to-day workflow. We can now also digitally prescribe the app right from the EHR.”

The expanded access to iMHere is part of UPMC’s commitment to excellence and innovation and was unveiled as part of the services provided at the new UPMC Mercy Pavilion. The UPMC Rehabilitation Institute is one of the largest rehabilitation networks in the United States. UPMC physiatrists and rehabilitation professionals offer tailored treatment programs to restore function and improve quality of life for patients, including specialized clinical services for brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, and musculoskeletal pain.

UPMC has a financial interest in Xealth.