Q)It seems that at every conference I attend, a tech/marketing rep stands up to rave about “this” app or “that” online program. My average patient is older than 60 (physiologically 80), has vision issues related to diabetes, hypertension, or cataracts, can’t afford a smartphone, wouldn’t know an app from a nap, and has trouble just managing to eat correctly. What makes these reps think that patients can use technology?
We are often encouraged to incorporate technology into our daily interactions with patients. Meaningful use has us signing up 70-year-old patients for our practice’s patient portal and counting on them to write a message to us so we can receive credit. Our initial response is to groan and ask if the government knows what kind of patients we see.
However, a new article in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology suggests that our patients may be more tech savvy than we think.1 The study found that patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) not only know how to use a smartphone application but also find its implementation useful.
Patients included in the study were, on average, 59 and had stage IV to stage V CKD and an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of ≥ 30 mL/min/1.73 m2. The study assessed knowledge of blood pressure, medications, CKD-related symptoms, and CKD-related laboratory tests.