mHealth research simply means that you are leveraging a digital solution to remotely capture data in your research study. Therefore, in mHealth research, you will either use an existing digital solution or you will create a digital solution for use in your research study.
Leveraging WashU available digital solutions
- Leveraging existing WashU Enterprise-level Digital Solutions (approved for use in studies capturing PHI):
- Survey Data Collection / Electronic Data Capture
- eSignature
- File Storage
- Box or Box Part 11
- SMS Text Messaging
- HIPAA Compliant Twilio*
- I2DB Platforms and Tools
- Cohort feasibility tools
- Data management solutions
*Note: There may be costs associated with use of these platforms.
For more information on approved use for WashU digital solutions, please check out the WashU office of Information Security (OIS) webpage, Recommended IT Services for Confidential or Protected Information.
Leveraging 3rd Party Digital Solutions or Creating New Digital Solutions
2. Building technology partnerships to leverage existing external (3rd party) digital solutions or to create a new digital solution.
- You can review a list of the WashU Preferred Suppliers , as this may help you determine an existing external digital solution to leverage in your research study.
- You can reach out to the WashU DI2 Accelerator’s Digital Solutions Studio (DSS), as they can help you evaluate whether there is a product on the market that could meet your needs. As well, the DSS can review your use case to determine if they can provide design and development services to help you create a new digital solution.
- If you’re building a new digital solution or if you have selected a 3rd party digital solution to use in your research, but you’re not sure about next steps in gaining approval to use the digital solution, please check out the Pathway to WashU Approval for Use of Digital Solutions in Research.
- Feel free to reach out to request a FREE mHRC consultation to discuss the digital solutions you’re considering or have already selected for use in your research and to determine the most appropriate next steps.
The following is a resource for navigating building a partnership with a technology vendor:
The mHRC has found the following steps helpful when trying to evaluate a good fit and build a partnership with the vendor of best fit for your project:
- Identify your priority minimal viable product, and identify vendors that meet that need
- Establish communication with the product representative
- Request a demo
- Ask to review the company’s relevant product use cases
- If appropriate, contact or request to contact at least 1 to 2 clients who are currently using the product
- Determine how long the product has been in use (aka: on the market)
- Ask how the product has been tested before it went “live”
- Explore the product maintenance plan (for software updates and bug fixes)
- Inquire about the vendor’s business model (e.g., what is the cost modeling for using the product or using their services)
- Determine where the data will be hosted and stored (at the University or in a cloud based server/database)
- Explore the compliance of the technology to the regulations that govern the study (e.g., does the product come with any relevant certifications, attestations, etc.)