mHealth: A Potential Tool for Health Care Delivery in India

This 9-page document, prepared for the Making the eHealth Connection: Global Partnerships, Local Solutions conference of 2008 in Bellagio, Italy, describes mHealth as "the application of emerging mobile communications and network technologies for health care systems. It involves the use of mobile computing, medical sensors, and communications technologies for health care." The authors describe the potential role mHealth might play, based in part on the example of India, in the new health care delivery model as wireless technology increases in flexibility, popularity, and distribution.

The authors see the same promise for health care in cost-effective, need-based, and appropriate technology that some economists, notably Mohammed Yunus, see for poverty alleviation through the mobile telephone. As stated here, "At present, the total world population served by mHealth services is probably less than one hundred thousand, though 80 percent of the world’s population lives in areas with mobile phone coverage." If the primary aim of mHealth is to strengthen and transform weak health systems, with a goal of moving to new health care delivery models, then it might potentially be able to "make available the right information at the right place, at the right time and in the correct form."

The strategy of treating the patient population in their homes and communities, with access to expert care, through mobile technology could be advanced by using newer technologies like high-speed packet access (HSPA), which, as stated here, offers fast and reliable connectivity, better data rates, easier deployment, and improved provisioning. Wireless technology is already in use in some countries to give physicians increased access to patient information and gives the health care system better data accuracy, reduction in errors, and better patient care. Broadband coverage and mobile handheld devices, according to the authors, is a consumer-driven technology expansion in which mHealth is well positioned for public-private service partnerships.

In terms of global distribution of mHealth projects, less than 50 mHealth projects have been documented, of which 20 are non-functional. According to the authors, the technology access is not the only challenge; end user and the health care provider acceptance is also a challenge. "Regulatory issues, logistics, and the use of appropriate, need-based, customized solutions are some of the other concerns. General design challenges faced by all telemedicine systems include billing and usability," among a list of technical hardware and software, bandwidth, reliability, language, compatibility, and other logistical issues. Challenges include development of mobile software platforms that guarantee confidential accurate "anytime" service, as well as physician access to clinical data; patient records; best-practice information, research, and medical literature; e-prescription; and drug information. The authors conclude that "providing health care through wireless technology will be the ultimate societal application."