Medicine
Mobile health, or "mHealth" for short, describes technology that allows clinicians or public health professionals to monitor and/or deliver health-related messages to patients via cellular phones, tablets, or other wireless devices. mHealth applications can complement and expand care provided at traditional face-to-face visits, and exploring their untapped potential to improve health in the U.S. and abroad was the topic of a recent Georgetown University Health Policy Seminar.
One popular mHealth initiative is the text4baby program, a public-private partnership launched in 2010 that sends free text messages to expectant and new mothers containing appointment reminders, safety alerts, and general prenatal and postpartum health advice. Smartphone apps now include a variety of self-management tools for weight loss, physical activity, and chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently moved to regulate health apps that act as medical devices (e.g., electrocardiogram) and would pose safety risks to patients if they malfunctioned. However, the vast majority of health apps used by consumers will not require FDA approval.
In the developing world, "mHealth projects are launching at an exponential rate," declared a recent issue of Johns Hopkins Public Health Magazine. Cellular phones have made real-time communication with field workers routine and allowed teams of nurses and midwives to attend births in rural Bangladesh. However, the field of mHealth is hampered by a lack of evaluations of health outcomes and concerns about sustainability of successful interventions:
Using phones to advance public health isn’t as simple as it seems. Researchers are grappling with complex questions that have already doomed hundreds of mHealth projects: How do you know whether mHealth projects are really working and worth the investment? How do you conquer the phenomenon known as “pilotitis,” and scale effective strategies into health systems that have regional or national impacts? And how do you make sure these projects are long-lasting additions, instead of the public health equivalent of a dropped call?
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This post is being published simultaneously on The Health Policy Exchange.
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Medicine
Tapping the potential applications of mHealth
Mobile health, or "mHealth" for short, describes technology that allows clinicians or public health professionals to monitor and/or deliver health-related messages to patients via cellular phones, tablets, or other wireless devices. mHealth applications can complement and expand care provided at traditional face-to-face visits, and exploring their untapped potential to improve health in the U.S. and abroad was the topic of a recent Georgetown University Health Policy Seminar.
One popular mHealth initiative is the text4baby program, a public-private partnership launched in 2010 that sends free text messages to expectant and new mothers containing appointment reminders, safety alerts, and general prenatal and postpartum health advice. Smartphone apps now include a variety of self-management tools for weight loss, physical activity, and chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently moved to regulate health apps that act as medical devices (e.g., electrocardiogram) and would pose safety risks to patients if they malfunctioned. However, the vast majority of health apps used by consumers will not require FDA approval.
In the developing world, "mHealth projects are launching at an exponential rate," declared a recent issue of Johns Hopkins Public Health Magazine. Cellular phones have made real-time communication with field workers routine and allowed teams of nurses and midwives to attend births in rural Bangladesh. However, the field of mHealth is hampered by a lack of evaluations of health outcomes and concerns about sustainability of successful interventions:
Using phones to advance public health isn’t as simple as it seems. Researchers are grappling with complex questions that have already doomed hundreds of mHealth projects: How do you know whether mHealth projects are really working and worth the investment? How do you conquer the phenomenon known as “pilotitis,” and scale effective strategies into health systems that have regional or national impacts? And how do you make sure these projects are long-lasting additions, instead of the public health equivalent of a dropped call?
We debated the types of policies that would be most likely to encourage innovations that make a positive difference for individuals and populations. How can we avoid creating "digital divides" that could worsen health disparities? Should state and local governments provide direct grants or tax relief to promising startups? Or should the central planners get out of the way and trust free market forces to produce the future of mHealth?
**
This post is being published simultaneously on The Health Policy Exchange.
- How Can Tech Help Family Medicine For America's Health?
A randomized trial published last month in JAMA found that sending lifestyle change text messages to patients with coronary artery disease improved smoking cessation rates, increased physical activity, and reduced other cardiovascular risk factors....
- Tackling The Problem Of Too Few Family Physicians
Researchers at the American Academy of Family Physicians' Robert Graham Center have estimated that the U.S. will require 52,000 additional primary care physicians by 2025 due to the effects of population growth, aging, and insurance expansion....
- Changing Unhealthy Habits Requires Changing Environments
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's recent proposal to ban sales of sugary beverages larger than 16 ounces has encountered opposition not only from soda manufacturers, but many others who are skeptical that such a ban would make any difference...
- The Promise And Pitfalls Of Medical Apps
Doctors of my generation have experienced dramatic changes in the way we access the information we need to care for patients. As a medical student 15 years ago, my "peripheral brain" consisted of fat textbooks sitting on office bookshelves or smaller,...
- The Doctor Will "tweet" You Now
There’s a lot of evidence that to prevent many serious health conditions, including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and stroke, making healthy lifestyle changes are just as good, if not better than, taking medications. Lifestyle changes may consist...