mHealth: When Healthcare's In Your Pocket

Twelve years ago, as I taxied from Queen Alia International Airport for 20 miles into Amman, Jordan, I was struck by the numerous billboards, seemingly one after the other, promoting cell phones. When we arrived in the capital my first question was: Why?

The answer was, because few Jordanians had landline phone service, so cell phone technology was bringing them telephonic communication for the first time. According to our Member, Ed Buckley, a native of South Africa, this story is repeated throughout the third world.

So what does that have to do with healthcare? Perhaps everything.

According to HHS-funded researchers, only 1.5% of nonfederal U.S. hospitals use a comprehensive electronic health record system. Why? At least one reason is they’re really expensive, and take a long time to implement. Yet, since 2007, more than 170 smartphone applications for healthcare professionals have been developed. Perhaps only 1.5% of the hospitals have EHRs, but 54% of physicians own smartphones or other handheld devices. And, today, more medical schools are requiring students to use PDAs, too.

At UCLA Med Center, for example, they’re piloting a mobile, wireless patient information retrieval system that gives physicians instant access from throughout the hospital and around the world to real-time patient data via wireless PDAs and cellular smart phones. Elsewhere, mVisum’s Medical Communication System provides a secure, HIPAA compliant means of sending medical data, including EKGs, medical images (including ultrasounds, CT scans, MRIs, X-Rays, etc.) directly to the physician's phone -- anytime, anywhere.

And, then there’s the iPhone. The iTunes online storefront, which lets independent developers sell applications for the iPhone, now has over 15,000 aps that have resulted in over 500 million downloads. Among them: the Healthcare & Fitness category has 745 options, including My Life Record, which – for $49.99 -- lets you manage and access medical records, including doctor information and images such as X-rays, ultrasounds and electrocardiograms. The company says it uses industry-standard encryption to keep the data safe.

With thousands of developers working on ever-more sophisticated mHealth tools, the health IT landscape is beginning to look a lot like Jordan’s cellular revolution.