mHealth's Emergence

Not too long ago I thought I had the best technology in the world.  Someone could call my number and this little gadget on my hip would beep.  I could then call them back.  As I look back at those days in nostalgia, I also think that this was also the latest in "mobile health" technology.  In an emergency a doctor could be reached at any time and respond to the needs of his or her patients.  Now days if we need to contact our doctor the latest emerging trend is mobile health or mHealth.  Messages, images, prescriptions, notes and all sorts of medical information are now traded on mobile phones and tablets.  mHealth is posed to change the way we interact with our providers, view our medical history and try to "self-diagnose" ourselves.  But this is not all that mHealth is bringing us.  We can also track our weight, create workout programs and monitor how we eat.  Diabetics can have their blood sugar automatically sent to their doctors, who in turn can create health plans to keep these people on track.

This all sounds like it is going to make life easier for all of us, right.  Well for certain groups of people these advancements are far from easy.  These people are the politicians and regulatory groups that must enforce safe and secure transfer of data.  People selling applications must also sell the products in a harsh economical environment, and find a way to convince consumers that it is worth paying for some of these pieces of software.  There are also researchers who must conduct studies to see how these technologies will fit in an ever-changing social environment.  And last but not least, the people that must build the infrastructure to support this massive flow of information.  Lets take a look at some of these complexities and see how mHealth will move forward.

Politics, Regulations and Your Mobile Freedom

Ponemon Institute, a research organization that conducts studies on privacy, data protection and information security policies, found that 94% of healthcare organizations have had at least one data breach in the past two years (SIW Editorial Staff, 2012).  This number is scary.  The most common types of breaches include lost equipment, employee errors, third-party error, criminal attack and technology glitches (SIW Editorial Staff, 2012).  Now with the rise of mHealth, there is a new avenue for private data to be leaked to people who should not have access.  Yes we are entering a world of more mobile access, but this access comes with a price.  This price is the potential for data to be stolen, lost or mishandled.  Eric Wicklund (2012), editor at mHIMSS, learned from Peter Tippett of Verizon Enterprise Solutions that "healthcare is 'dead last' among industries in using cloud computing and IT" and that "part of the reason for that is regulatory overhang."  Technology is advancing and healthcare is just entering the game.  There are many regulations and laws to be created to make sure data is safe as it flies over the airways.  Also with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) it is becoming difficult for CIOs to find a happy medium between company policy and the law (Comstock, 2012). 

mHealth Faces the Economy

The economy may be a barrier to mHealth adoption, especially in developing nations.  Dan Jellinek (2012), states that one barrier is lack of investment funds because of the worldwide economic crisis.  Another is the misalignment of funding incentives (Jellinek, 2012).  He advises that governments around the world take these into account when planning infrastructure and policy (Jellinek, 2012). 

How mHealth will affect the Socio-Economic Climate

There is no doubt that this emerging technology will make an impact on how healthcare is delivered.  Studies are already being done on how far the impact will be.  The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) was commissioned to study these impacts.  These impacts will be especially felt in emerging economies.  BCG found that mHealth will provide the solutions needed in these economies and do it quickly (BCG, 2012).  They also found that mHealth will free up health resources by reducing paperwork, reducing human error, avoid duplication and reduce administrative burdens by 20 - 30 percent (BCG, 2012).  This will go a long way in countries that face short budgets and start to save and improve lives all over the globe.  Another example of the socio-economic effect is how mHealth will improve mother and child health.  Voice of America (2012) (VOA) gives the scenario of a pregnant woman whose mobile device sends messages timed to her pregnancy that tells her what to do and when to do certain things.  It will even alert her when to get special treatment, or prevention care (VOA, 2012). 

Building a Foundation

When using the technology to facilitate mHealth, there are a few challenges that need to be considered when building the infrastructure on which all platforms will live.  One consideration is the quality of connection and performance of the end device, according to Jenny Laurello (2011).  There must be a high quality of connections (Laurello, 2011).  Unfortunately in most cases connects on mobile devices are not as consistent as a desktop device (Laurello, 2011).  One way around this is to create a wireless network at the organization that can accommodate the increased load of all the mobile devices (Laurello, 2011). 

As you can see mHealth will make a great impact on healthcare of the future.  There are few barriers such as lack of oversight and regulation that can lead to data breaches, and key parts of the infrastructure must be upgraded, especially wireless technology like Wi-Fi.  There is also the lack of investment in a world recovering from a global economic catastrophe.  If these barriers can be over come the socio-economic affect will be saved and improved lives across the world and because of this the future of mHealth looks bright.

References:

Boston Consulting Group.  (2012 April).  The Socio-Economic Impact of Mobile Health.  Retrieved from http://telenor.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/BCG-Telenor-Mobile-Health-Report-May-20121.pdf

Comstock, J.  (2012 December 06).  BYOD, HIPAA are rock and hard place for CIOs.  mobihealthnews.  Retrieved from http://mobihealthnews.com/19385/byod-hipaa-are-rock-and-hard-place-for-cios/

Jellinek, D.  (2012).  A changing world.  Vodafone mHealth Solutions.  Downloaded from http://mhealth.vodafone.com/health_debate/insights_guides/politics_economics/index.jsp

Laurello, J.  (2011 June 28).  Network and infrastructure considerations for mHealth and mobile devices.  Retrieved from http://www.circadence.com/news/current/Network-and-infrastructure-considerations-for-mHealth-and-mobile-devices

SIW Editorial Staff.  (2012 December 10).  Study: Healthcare Data Breaches A Growing Concern.  SECURITYINFOWATCH.COM.  Retrieved from http://www.securityinfowatch.com/news/10840149/study-healthcare-data-breaches-a-growing-concern

Voice of America.  (2012 December 05).  Using a Mobile Phone to Improve Mother and Child Health.  Retrieved from http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/wireless-phone-pregnancy-mama-baby-medical-mobile/1559325.html

Wicklung, E.  (2012 December 04).  Verizon's Tippett says mHealth data transfer and security must be invisible and seamless.  mHIMSS.  Retrieved from http://www.mhimss.org/news/verizons-tippett-says-mhealth-data-transfer-and-security-must-be-invisible-and-seamless