Mount Sinai researchers in the Sinai App Lab at the Icahn School of Medicine have developed RxUniverse, the first enterprise-wide digital medicine care delivery system that enables physicians to digitally prescribe evidence-based mobile health apps to patients at the point of care. With over 245,000 health apps in the Apple Store, it is hard for providers to select which ones to recommend to their patients.With RxUniverse, professionals can discover the right app from a curated, evidence-based selection and immediately “prescribe” it directly to a patient’s mobile device.
Key benefits of RxUniverserse include:
Simplified Logistics: Prescribe apps to empower patients with access to medical records and appointment scheduling
Educated Patients: Prescribe content tailored to patients’ conditions, improving adherence and self-monitoring
Informed Providers: Prescribe remote monitoring tools to optimize clinical treatment based on a comprehensive picture of patient symptoms and well-being
Real-Time Feedback: Data from surveys and apps allows real time customer satisfaction and engagement score
“RxUniverse allows physicians and other healthcare providers to seamlessly and confidently integrate evidence-based digital health tools into their practice,” said Ashish Atreja, MD, MPH, Chief Technology Innovation and Engagement Officer and Director of the Sinai AppLab, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, “Apps have typically been recommended to patients verbally, but with the myriad of mobile health apps on the market, many with no proven evidence, it is a challenge for providers and patients. RxUniverse eliminates these uncertainties and barriers to digital medicine.”
The inception of the RxUniverse platform started in August 2016 in an initial pilot phase throughout five clinical areas at Mount Sinai with the goal of prescribing apps to 100 patients within 6 weeks time frame. . Since then, participating physicians have prescribed more than 2,000 apps, exceeding 20 times the pilot goal. In response to this success, the Sinai AppLab has partnered with Mount Sinai Innovation Partners to launch a new startup company, Responsive Health, which will license RxUniverse for use by other health systems.
“As the pace of innovation in digital medicine accelerates, there will be increasing demand for the ability to quickly integrate new apps into our health care systems,” said Kenneth L Davis, MD, President and CEO, Mount Sinai Health System. “Mount Sinai is proud to be at the forefront of digital medicine and dedicated to streamlining the eHealth care delivery model to further our mission to provide world-class care to our patients.”
RxUniverse is part of a larger ecosystem called the Network of Digital Evidence (NODE Health), which provides a community forum and structure for health system technology experts, digital medicine tech companies, clinicians and patients, to come together around digital medicine and the state of scientific evidence surrounding its design, efficacy, and implementation.
“RxUniverse will empower health care providers to bring multiple digital health tools directly to the hands of our patients quickly and reliably,” said Bruce Darrow, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Information Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System.
