Research Article Use of a Smartphone to Gather Parkinson’s Disease Neurological Vital Signs during the COVID-19 Pandemic Jay L. Alberts , 1,2 Mandy Miller Koop , 1 Marisa P. McGinley , 3 Amanda L. Penko , 1 Hubert H. Fernandez , 2,4 Steven Shook , 2 Robert A. Bermel , 3 Andr´ e Machado , 2,4 and Anson B. Rosenfeldt 1 1 Cleveland Clinic, Lerner Research Institute, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland, OH, USA 2 Cleveland Clinic, Neurological Institute, Center for Neurological Restoration, Cleveland, OH, USA 3 Cleveland Clinic, Neurological Institute, Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis, Cleveland, OH, USA 4 Cleveland Clinic, Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Jay L. Alberts; albertj@ccf.org Received 13 January 2021; Revised 25 February 2021; Accepted 26 March 2021; Published 10 April 2021 Academic Editor: Pablo Mir Copyright © 2021 Jay L. Alberts et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Introduction. To overcome travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer-based technology was rapidly deployed to the smartphones of individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) participating in a 12-month exercise trial. e aim of the project was to determine the feasibility of utilizing a combined synchronous and asynchronous self-administered smartphone application to characterize PD symptoms. Methods. A synchronous video virtual visit was completed for the administration of virtual Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale III (vMDS-UPDRS III). Participants asynchronously completed a mobile application consisting of a measure of upper extremity bradykinesia (Finger Tapping Test) and information processing. Results. Twenty-three individuals completed the assessments. e mean vMDS-UPDRS III was 23.65 ± 8.56 points. On average, the number of taps was significantly greater for the less affected limb, 97.96 ± 17.77 taps, compared to the more affected, 89.33 ± 18.66 taps (p = 0.025) with a significantly greater number of freezing episodes for the more affected limb (p < 0.05). Correlation analyses indicated the number of errors and the number of freezing episodes were significantly related to clinical ratings of vMDS-UPDRS III bradykinesia (Rho=0.44, p < 0.01; R =0.43, p < 0.01, resp.) and finger tapping performance (Rho=0.31, p � 0.03; Rho=0.32, p � 0.03, resp.). Discussion. e objective characterization of bradykinesia, akinesia, and nonmotor function and their relationship with clinical disease metrics indicate smartphone technology provides a remote method of characterizing important aspects of PD performance. While theoretical and position papers have been published on the potential of telemedicine to aid in the management of PD, this report translates the theory into a viable reality. 1. Introduction e coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) results from infection from the novel SARS-CoV-2 and causes mild- moderate respiratory infection in most individuals; however, the infection can cause severe infection and death in some people. COVID-19 was first identified in late 2019, and with global concern escalating, the impact on the United States began in March 2020. is resulted in sweeping travel re- strictions and limited in-person gathering in an attempt to decrease transmission rates. e emergence of COVID-19 catapulted telemedicine as an essential service for patients across all domains of medicine to aid in disease management and contain virus spread. e World Health Organization defines telemedicine as “the delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care pro- fessionals using information and communication technol- ogies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation” [1]. For decades, telemedicine has promised to aid in the delivery of care and monitoring of research outcomes for neurological patients [2] with greater Hindawi Parkinson’s Disease Volume 2021, Article ID 5534282, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/5534282