RheumCloud App: A novel mobile application for the management of rheumatic diseases patients in China
Can Huang, Jiuliang Zhao, Xinping Tian, Qian Wang, Dong Xu, Mengtao Li, Xiaofeng Zeng
Abstract
This review summarizes the history, function, application, and achievement of the RheumCloud App as a novel smartphone application. This App reflects the development of the Chinese Rheumatism Data Center (CRDC), which provides not only a technical platform for the database and registry of rheumatic diseases (RDs) in China, but also a close tie between Chinese rheumatologists and patients with RDs. Throughout the past decade, CRDC has successfully built the world's largest nationwide database for RDs. A total of 2074 tertiary referral centers consisting of 8051 rheumatologists participated in the registry. RheumCloud App, which is representative of the success of CRDC, has played a central role in supporting patient cohort registration, biosample collection, and patient education. Based on the data of the Rhuem-Cloud App, three national key research projects have been funded and a series of research papers have been published.