Mobile Health Improves Healthcare Delivery

The healthcare industry suffers from a high degree of fragmentation which results in inefficiencies. It is widely recognized that the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems in health care has the potential to improve healthcare systems’ efficiencies. The use of ICT in health care is referred as electronic health (eHealth). Four key steps are deemed essential for eHealth to improve healthcare delivery.

First, the healthcare industry should adopt ICT systems that can allow effective health information management. Health ICT systems, such as Electronic Health Record (EHR), Electronic Medical Record (EMR), and Personal Health Record (PHR) can considerably improve the delivery of medical services.

Second, with today’s increase of health consumerism, the integration of PHR and EHR systems is needed to facilitate physician-patient partnership and support patients’ self-management.

Third, for ICT systems to improve healthcare delivery, they should provide healthcare providers and patients with uninterrupted services and timely access to patients’ records. Distance-irrelevant and mobile connectivity systems are required to make relevant health information readily available to healthcare stakeholders irrespective of geography and time.

Fourth, to further improve healthcare delivery, eHealth should be supported by mobile technologies. This practice is referred to as mobile health.

Today, nearly six billion individuals across the world use mobile devices. The commercial wireless signals coverage is increasing. Thus, mobile health can significantly improve healthcare delivery - in terms of health costs containment and patients’ access to care. For this to happen, several obstacles to the mobile adoption must be overcome.