As a physician, I have a confession to make.

During the typical patient–doctor encounter, we discuss the patient’s health issues, offer some clinical guidance, emphasize the significance of following through, and send them on their way. But the truth is, this is noble in intent but weak on execution.

By the next time we see the same patient, we often have no idea what’s really been going on with their health and whether they’ve followed our recommendations to take their medications, monitor their blood pressure, increase their activity, and the like.

That’s because, as physicians, we are almost entirely reliant on whatever information appears within a patient’s electronic health record (EHR), and that limited view is simply not enough to deliver a full picture of a patient’s health.

To

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