Seth Martin, MD: Patient Confidence and Emerging Smartphone Technology

Even with the slightest glance of the presentations and discussions being held at the American Society For Preventive Cardiology (ASPC) 2021 Virtual Summit, it is abundantly clear that much is happening in the cardiovascular disease prevention space.

One of the most progressive of presentations, “Technologies and Wearables”, comes from Seth Martin, MD, who leads The Mobile Technologies to Achieve Equity in Cardiovascular Health at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Martin spoke of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on cardiology research, as well as the future of cardiovascular technologies, in an interview with HCPLive.

“In a way it I mean, (COVID-19) shined a light that there is disparate access,” Martin said. “But, in a way, it's accelerating the future of access, because we got a taste of what it's like to really need technology to deliver care. I think it's overall accelerated our pathway to that, to that future of care where we have much greater access.”

Acceleration, as Martin alluded to in earlier coverage, is as prominent a concern as accessibility. He has urged fellow researchers in the cardiology field to press on with new strategies and technologies that can be easily accessible to their patients.

A project Martin has worked closely on in the past 5 years at Johns Hopkins Medicine is the Corrie Health app. Working alongside Dr. Francoise Marvel and lead engineer Matthias Lee, as well as members from the Apple Health Team, he has had a hand in creating smartphone technology with a strong focus on preventive cardiology.

Martin and colleagues have recently published encouraging results on the circulation quality and outcomes of 200 patients who experienced a heart attack and participated in a health intervention via the Corrie Health app.

A point of pride for Martin was that much of what was built into the application was driven by patient input, which was coupled with the latest cardiology guidelines.

Martin spoke of the important of quality care for patients with cardiovascular diseases, and the importance of improving patient confidence as well.

“That confidence will then play into their care,” Martin said. “Ultimately, having that (confidence) that you have something a program guiding you and you know what you need to do, that's going to make or break patient outcomes. That's going to make or break whether they take their antiplatelet therapy or their cholesterol lowering therapy.”