Dr. Wright, who has a DNP or doctor of nursing practice, now asks patients to monitor blood pressure with devices they can buy at the pharmacy or on Amazon. She asks them to send her the electrocardiograms from their smartwatches and reviews the data at the end of each day. The real-time data reduces the need for in-office appointments and speeds up her diagnoses and referrals to specialists.

For her migraine patients, she recommends apps like Migraine Buddy that help patients share with Dr. Wright data such as headache frequency and duration, along with food consumed or weather changes.

Previously, migraine patients would have their medications reviewed or adjusted every two to three months in in-person appointments. Now Dr. Wright can adjust medications in two to four weeks. Patients input the data into their apps and she can review the data and make changes to their medication via a patient portal, without having to get on a phone call.

Another home test some doctors are recommending more often: A first-line screening for colon cancer that can reduce the need for a colonoscopy. Some of the tests allow users to collect their own stool sample at home then ship it to a lab for analysis.