Cell phone applications in health care..
C. Peter Waegemann, CEO of the Medical Records Institute and executive director of the newly established not-for-profit mHealth Initiative, says that in the last several years, cell phone use had been forbidden in most hospitals and clinics. Now, however, they are moving toward becoming among the most prized tools to decrease costs, improve care, and provide an optimal way to communicate with patients.
The vision of the mHealth Initiative includes 10 application clusters that will enhance the overall delivery of healthcare through the use of cell phone technology.
A primary goal is to foster better communication between patients and doctors through avenues such as short message services, texting, or even calling rather than scheduling an office visit. For example, the patient can send medical information via a cell phone or an agenda prior to an appointment to make the visit more effective. “There is a major move to having personal medical records available on their cell phones. We expect between 10 [million] to 30 million patients to have this information by the end of 2009,” says Waegemann.
From 411 on Cellphone applications in Healthcare
mHealth Initiative is a non profit organization based in US that plans to promote mobile based and other applications in healthcare that will save money, improve the quality of care, and provide better efficiency. New standards will be necessary. mHI has the objective of creating a roadmap for the new health ecosystem that will be based on mDevices, new software, new interoperability solutions, and secure wireless transmission. The mHealth Initiative will work on fostering the creation of mHealth cities or regions as examples for national and international mHealth networks. mHI will also work internationally where mHealth can leapfrog health systems in infrastructure-challenged countries.
How Mobile Devices Benefit Healthcare
- Cell phone, smart phone, and other mDevice users can store their personal health information safely and securely on their phone in order to share it with authorized healthcare professionals when healthcare services are needed.
- Specific mDevice software can provide preferred and easy communication between healthcare providers, patients, payers, pharmacists, and others, facilitating medication reminders for patients, appointment scheduling, easy emergency calling, and other functions.
- mDevices can serve as the platform for consumer health-related software such as wellness-related programs and disease management programs. A wealth of functions related to diseases ranging from asthma to diabetes, from smoking cessation to general pediatric applications, are currently being developed and tested.
- mDevices offer clinicians and patients quick access to health information for clinicians and patients. Patients can look up information about medication or symptoms of their health status. Imagine a patient looking up a specific medication after it has been prescribed at a clinic visit, noting it interacts with another of their medications that they failed to mention during their visit and alerting the clinic physician – also via the cell phone – before having the prescription filled. Clinicians, on the other hand, can access protocols at the point of care and/or other professional information that is available on the Internet while with a patient or away from their desk.
- mDevices can be very efficient tools for medical research, offering the power of the Internet and enabling patient data to be transmitted easily and instantaneously to authorized, pre-programmed research centers.
More about mhealth initiative…
While there are still some conflicting reports about the impact of Mobile phones on your health,yet today cell phones can save lives.
Cell phones are now a common part of our everyday lives. But not only is the technology taken for granted, its wide-reaching potential is largely unrecognized. The technology that is found in cell phones and PDAs is currently being applied to improve health services in developing countries.
The United Nations Foundation (UNF) and Vodafone Foundation (VF) Technology Partnership is using mobile health (mHealth) technology to support UN programs in developing countries. Innovative mHealth projects are powering the collection of health data, supporting diagnosis and treatment, and advancing education and research in even the most remote and poverty stricken environments.
In health care, time is of the essence. With mobile technology, data can be quickly and accurately collected, allowing health workers to coordinate their efforts and track the success of health campaigns. This technology can also be used in disaster and outbreak response, to track the spread of an epidemic in real time. With the most up-to-date, easily accessible information and communications, mHealth is revolutionizing healthcare delivery in much of the developing world.
From MediaGlobal
