From the article in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology: 

"Health information technology (HIT) is a promising tool to offset challenges physicians face in delivering self-management support, particularly in diabetes. Through HIT, including patient portals, mobile applications, and automated phone technologies, providers and patients can communicate beyond the 15-minute office visit. Health care providers, through automated technology, can send patients reminders and education to support self-management, and can also collect information from patients on self-care activities and other self-assessments.

Such “patient-generated health data” are taking on greater importance in the context of the recent 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), which requires providers to integrate electronic health records (EHRs) into the care environment and demonstrate meaningful use. Although not yet finalized, current proposed recommendations for stage 3 meaningful use, set to take effect in 2016, require participating hospitals and physicians to electronically accept patient-generated health information. While the potential benefits of patient-generated health data are widely appreciated, little is known about how best to integrate them into routine clinical care. Key research questions remain about what patient-generated data would be useful to providers, how and when the data should be captured, and how best to integrate them into clinical workflow."