Seth Martin, MD: Cardiologists Should “Think Big” About New Technologies

In the ever-growing population of cardiovascular research, some of the most promising forms of cardiovascular care involve new technologies and wearables that are being introduced to patients and doctors around the world.

Dr. Seth Martin, MD, leader of The Mobile Technologies to Achieve Equity in Cardiovascular Health at Johns Hopkins Medicine, spoke with HCPLive about some of the advancements being made in the world of cardiovascular technology, a subject he will be speaking intensively on at this year’s American Society For Preventive Cardiology (ASPC) Virtual Summit.

In an interview with HCPLive, Martin spoke of the importance of ambition in the cardiovascular field, and how health care professionals should be ambitious and efficient in caring for patients with cardiovascular diseases.

“I think we have to think big,” Martin said. “We need to be thinking bigger about accelerating q version of the healthcare system in the future where patients truly are at the center and empowered and can achieve better outcomes. I think our pace of adoption of new evidence and guidelines is just too slow, and we really need to leverage technology to do that.”

Martin spoke of human centered design methodology, a practice used often in the technology industry, to create technology that is centered around the health and concerns of the patients, both mentally and physically.

For Martin, the process of creating effective technology for patients with cardiovascular diseases is dependent on patient satisfaction as well as the acknowledgment a myriad of health care professionals, all of whom make up an important collection of stakeholders.

“We need to make sure we're engaging the input of our nursing colleagues of our pharmacy, colleagues of our social work colleagues from a cardiac rehab standpoint, our exercise physiology colleagues, the list goes on,” Martin said. “We need to really be bringing in this diverse stakeholder input earlier in the process, and I think that will increase the probability of success.”

According to Martin, several advancements have been made from a diagnostic perspective.

His colleagues who work within the neurology space have developed diagnostic tools that can diagnose a stroke in patients based on their eye movements, and he feels as though there’s been momentum in arrythmia detection technology in the world of cardiology.

Martin also referenced studies that are being conducted based on patients’ blood pressure, resulting in Bluetooth connected blood pressure technology that is currently in development.

However, the development of these new technologies was not Martin’s sole concern. Accessibility of these new technologies and coaching for patients who are not accustomed to them was also vitally important.

Martin believed low-cost internet and technology coaching services could provide a path forward in terms of progressive cardiology research.

“In the future, I envision a robust kind of network (and) that we find ways to get patients access to technologies, if they can't otherwise afford it, just like we have programs to get patients access to medications, if they can't otherwise afford it,” Martin said.