mHealth: Closing the Gap Between Promise and Adoption
Stakeholders at last week’s third annual mHealth Summit in the Washington, D.C., area touted the potential of mobile health technology to improve health care quality, increase patient centeredness and reduce costs. However, they also acknowledged that while mobile tools have helped revolutionize nearly every other industry in the U.S., the health care field has lagged behind.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius — one of the summit’s keynote speakers — said, “Virtually every American today has a cellphone. … And every year, our phones have more features and computing power.” She added, “As our phones get more powerful, they are becoming our primary tools for doing everything from getting directions to deciding where to eat. And, increasingly, that includes using our phones to track, manage and improve our health.”
The promise of mobile health is not new. Health care leaders for several years have advocated for increasing use of mobile tools to help improve preventive health care, reduce unnecessary physician visits, curb rising health care costs and empower patients. Yet, widespread mobile health adoption has remained elusive.
Sebelius said, “Over the last few decades, we’ve seen information technology improve the consumer experience in almost every area of our lives. We’ve gone from waiting until a bank opened to make a deposit to 24-hour ATMs and paying bills online,” adding, “But health care has stubbornly held onto its cabinets and hanging files.”…Continue reading
