Digital Health
Current HRS Digital Health Initiatives
Telehealth Resources
Technological advances have introduced new ways to facilitate care outside clinical settings and support health monitoring and promotion of wellness in-home and community settings. Telehealth — sometimes called telemedicine — enables healthcare to be provided without an in-person office visit. Telehealth is done primarily online with internet access on a computer, tablet, or smartphone and can include video visits, phone calls, and various types of online communication. Telehealth has become much more widely used in recent years because of this, Heart Rhythm Society has partnered with the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association to develop telehealth resources to advance the use of this type of care.
HRS White paper on Clinical Utilization of Digital Health Technology
The 2021 HRS White paper on Clinical Utilization of Digital Health Technology was published in the Cardiovascular Digital Health Journal. This collaborative statement from the Digital Health Committee of the Heart Rhythm Society provides everyday clinical scenarios in which wearables may be utilized by patients for cardiovascular health and arrhythmia management. We describe herein the spectrum of wearables that are commercially available for patients, and their benefits, shortcomings and areas for technological improvement. Although wearables for rhythm diagnosis and management have not been examined in large randomized clinical trials, undoubtedly the usage of wearables has quickly escalated in clinical practice.
2021 ISHNE/HRS/EHRA/APHRS Collaborative Statement on mHealth in Arrhythmia Management: Digital Medical Tools for Heart Rhythm Professionals
This collaborative statement from the International Society for Holter and Noninvasive Electrocardiology/Heart Rhythm Society/European Heart Rhythm Association/Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society describes the current status of mobile health ("mHealth") technologies in arrhythmia management. The range of digital medical tools and heart rhythm disorders that they may be applied to and clinical decisions that may be enabled are discussed. The facilitation of comorbidity and lifestyle management (increasingly recognized to play a role in heart rhythm disorders) and patient self-management are novel aspects of mHealth. The promises of predictive analytics but also operational challenges in embedding mHealth into routine clinical care are explored.
CTA/HRS Guidance for Wearable Health Solutions
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® and Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) released a unique digital health paper recommending best practices for using wearable technology to manage personal health, including detecting and monitoring cardiovascular biometrics.
This unique whitepaper includes key facts consumers should be aware of when choosing a wearable health device. It includes guidance as to deciding which wearable is the right fit and how to communicate with one's health provider.
Transparent Sharing of Digital Health Data: A Call to Action
Heart rhythm care professionals and patients routinely depend upon digital health data obtained by cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CEIDs), medical-grade ambulatory cardiac monitors, and most recently, consumer personal biometric monitoring devices. However, the data typically resides either exclusively with the healthcare team or, in the case of consumer devices, with the patient.
If all stakeholders provide effective leadership and engage proactively and collaboratively with each other, we will take the small but significant first steps toward advancing the Heart Rhythm Society vision to end death and suffering due to heart rhythm disorders.