The ability to monitor patients at a distance via mobile health applications has increased the effectiveness of healthcare professionals and has allowed them to provide more immediate and timely care. These mobile health apps have helped in the documenting the lives of the users. Further work, however, is needed to integrate the use of mobile health apps into the clinical care delivery system and to prove the effectiveness of these apps.
The GIM App is one of such applications. It is currently being used in the Center for Motility and Functional GI Disorders at Boston Children’s Hospital as part of clinical care to track patient symptoms, progress, and outcomes. The main idea behind the GIM App is that it will assist physicians in providing the best possible evidence-based care to their patients. By tracking patients data such as a patients gastrointestinal history, symptoms, medications, procedures, allergies, diet changes and quality of life the physician will have a clearer view of the disorder and better define treatment interventions for their patients.