Turn your daily activity into life-saving research. Join the Stanford study, learn about your heart, and help advance science.
Turn your daily activity into a powerful tool for science with My Heart Counts, a revolutionary research study and personal health app from Stanford University School of Medicine, the University of Washington, and Imperial College London.
Heart disease is the #1 cause of death worldwide. But what if we could change that, together? My Heart Counts invites you to partner directly with researchers to help us understand how activity, lifestyle, and fitness relate to cardiovascular health. This isn't just another fitness tracker, it's your chance to be part of the solution.
WHY IS THIS SO EXCITING?
- BE A CITIZEN SCIENTIST: You are not just a user; you are a research partner. By simply living your life, you contribute valuable data to one of the largest-ever studies on heart health. Your contribution can help unlock the secrets to preventing heart disease.
- YOUR PERSONAL AI HEALTH COACH: This study includes a physical activity randomized controlled trial. My Heart Counts now features an intelligent coach powered by a cutting-edge Large Language Model (LLM). The coach provides personalized tips and encouragement to help you build healthier habits, one step at a time.
- GET PERSONALIZED INSIGHTS: Discover your "Heart Score," a unique measure of your cardiovascular health based on your activity levels and other data. Learn more about your own patterns and how they contribute to overall health.
- POWERED BY STANFORD MEDICINE: This app is developed and run by leading cardiologists and researchers at Stanford University, the University of Washington, and Imperial College London. You can trust the science and know your data is handled with the highest standards of security and privacy.
HOW IT WORKS:
1. Download & Consent: Join the study in minutes with a simple, transparent consent process.
2. Track Your Activity: The app uses the motion sensors in your iPhone or connects to your Apple Watch to automatically and securely measure your daily activity.
3. LLM-Powered Physical Activity Recommendations: Our LLM-powered coach will provide motivation and personalized physical activity advice.
4. Get Your Score & Contribute: See your activity patterns, get your Heart Score, and know that every step you take is advancing our collective understanding of heart health.
KEY FEATURES:
- Automatic Activity Tracking: Seamlessly monitors your steps, distance, and active time.
- AI-Powered Coaching: Chat with our LLM-driven coach for personalized motivation and guidance on your physical activity journey.
- Personalized Heart Score: Get a unique score and insights into your heart health.
- Secure & Private: Your data is encrypted, anonymized, and stored on secure servers. Your personally identifiable information is never shared.
- Optional Physical Activity Testing: Participate in a classic fitness assessment to provide even more valuable data.
DATA SAFETY & SECURITY:
We take your privacy as seriously as your heart health and your data is protected by the highest institutional standards:
- Open-source development: My Heart Counts is developed as an open-source project, allowing you to verify the functionality and security. We invite open-source contributors and are building on an open-source stack including the Stanford Spezi ecosystem.
- Enterprise-Grade Security: Your data is managed by Stanford Medicine Technology & Digital Solutions (TDS), utilizing the same rigorous security infrastructure used by Stanford Medicine.
- HIPAA Compliant: We are fully compliant with HIPAA regulations to ensure your Protected Health Information (PHI) remains safe and confidential.
Join a global movement for better health. Your motion has meaning.
Download My Heart Counts today and turn your daily activity into scientific discovery!
This is maybe the second or third version of the app that I've used. Like the previous versions it's fairly straightforward and easy to use. It's not always clear how the numbers are being used for active minutes over the past day, week, etc., i.e. they don't always seem to add up. And once in a while the app forgets who I am, and I have to sign in again, leaving me to wonder what's happening on the server. But all in all, it seems very worthwhile, and hopefully the data is going to good use. The section with articles is also informative and helpful, especially for someone starting out with the app.
Needs some work.
lkp_15
The informed consent portion of the app is handled very nicely. The biggest challenge is to slow down one's normal behavior of rapid clicking, to actually read the research consent. As excited as I am to participate in this study and the launch of app-based research, the actual experience has been frustrating and the 'leave this study' box is looming. First, there is no apparent way to contact the study team or other participants to ask questions. Such as--how do you start/take the 6 minute walk test? Because it just sits there and isn't doing anything. As others have noted, the apps ability to accurately synch with other devices and accurately record activity needs work. The daily questionairres don't go away once you have completed them. You could repeat the survey multiple times in a day, skewing the research data. The user authentication screen now works correctly and accepts touch ID. The daily reminder to complete the activities is sent automatically despite having already completed the activity. Hopefully these issues will be corrected soon so the research study can be successful.
Great Concept, Poor Execution
TrueLuck3
I think what this app is trying to do is just awesome. The problem is it doesn't seem to be functioning correctly, or I just can't understand what I'm supposed to do. I think I understand the concept of having to walk for 6 minutes straight, but I'm not sure how to check if that's working as expected. Also it's now asking for glucose and alike information that I have no idea how to find, so I tried entering a zero (0), it gave me an error, and I couldn't cancel. Tried to tap the cancel button and nothing happened, then the app crashed. I think the app needs to be more proactive in instructing the user on exactly what is expected of them, on an app functional level. How does this whole thing work, what's the interaction supposed to look like on a daily? Also, they make the common mistake with the Touch ID interface, showing some data, then blanking the screen and asking for the fingerprint. You need to make sure that you go straight to the Touch ID interface, do not load any scenes first.
Not ready for prime time
Mybrit1
I have given the app a thorough tryout. There are some redeeming qualities and the general idea is excellent. However, the implementation falls short. The steps tracking is fine, as is the part where one enters sleep data, although I would prefer the app working with HealthKit to pull my data that is already posted each day. The 6 minute walk only saves on occasion, it often leaves a message that the task was missed on previous day, which was not the case. How valuable missed data is to researchers is beyond me. I am frustrated with having to daily enter data that should be in a permanent file, such as cholesterol total, HDL, LDL and glucose levels. They generally get checked in an annual physical, not daily. I happen to have a machine in my office to take my blood pressure and pulse, but I doubt others don't and wonder if daily recording is really that important. The steps, sleep and journaling I should would be the most valuable. I too am seriously considering leaving the study for I feel some data is not getting through and wonder if my efforts are worth it.
What’s Changed
- Improved Language and Metadata Handling
Full Changelog: https://github.com/StanfordBDHG/MyHeartCounts-iOS/compare/4.0.1...4.0.2
Version 4.0.2
The developer, Stanford University, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Health & Fitness
Location
Contact Info
Identifiers
Usage Data
Sensitive Info
Other Data
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
