M-Health and its advantages

 

What is mobile healthcare(m-healthcare)?

mHealth (mobile health) is a general term for the use of mobile phones and other wireless technology in medical care. The most common application of mHealth is the use of mobile devices to educate consumers about preventive healthcare services. However, mHealth is also used for disease surveillance, treatment support, epidemic outbreak tracking and chronic disease management.

While there is no standardized definition for mHealth, we can gain a better understanding of the term and what it encompasses by looking at some widely cited and recognized definitions.

Istepanian's definition of mHealth is "emerging mobile communications and network technologies for healthcare systems."

The Global Observatory for eHealth of the World Health Organization defines mHealth as "medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, personal digital assistants, and other wireless devices." 

The National Institutes of Health's Fogarty International Center says mHealth "uses mobile technologies as tools and platforms for health research and healthcare delivery."

Finally, an mHealth Intelligence article notes that, "The mobile health industry is defined as the generation, accumulation, and exchange of medical information through mobile and wireless tools."

 

Advantages of mHealth

For consumers, a major benefit of mHealth is its convenience. Wearable devices and other mobile technology allow users to continuously track and manage certain health data without having to see their healthcare provider. There are also a plethora of apps to choose from: As of 2017, there were 325,000 mHealth apps available for download from app stores, according to digital health consulting firm research2guidance.

mHealth can also help bridge gaps in care by allowing patients to communicate with their physician or care team and vice versa without meeting face to face. Secure messaging, for example, allows physicians to alert parents when their child is out of surgery. It also allows healthcare providers to communicate with each other about patients -- for example, letting a nurse know when a patient has arrived for an appointment.