The use of mobile health tools will become more widespread, but barriers -- such as security issues and a lack of best practices -- remain, according to a report from Frost & Sullivan, InformationWeek reports.
The report, titled, "Advances in mHealth Technologies," is based on discussions with about 60 executives at academic research institutions, health care organizations, mobile device companies and software development firms who operate mobile health platforms in the U.S., Canada, the Asian Pacific Region and Europe.
Report Findings
Prasanna Kannan, the report's author, said that cardiovascular disease and diabetes are the chronic conditions with the greatest adoption rates of mobile health technology.
The report identifies six key areas where mobile devices could be used to bolster research and care coordination:
- Emergency response systems;
- Health and wellness information;
- Long-term disease management;
- Mobile-enhanced RFID-based tracking of drugs;
- Primary diagnosis; and
- Public health research.
Recommendations
In addition, the report recommends several strategies for increasing mobile health adoption, including:
- Urging doctors to demonstrate the features and benefits of mobile health tools to patients;
- Encouraging hospitals and health care networks to focus on using applications to capture data on specific conditions, such as diabetes, cancer or cardiovascular disease; and
- Integrating mobile health systems with existing hospitals and academic research centers to boost research, improve preventive care strategies and reduce costs.
Kannan said that within next three to four years, mobile device developers will make advances in improving the security of their systems (Lewis, InformationWeek, 10/9).