Researchers are examining how mobile technology could improve access to health care in developing countries, the New York Times reports.
They note that mobile phones can help connect people living in remote areas with health care providers in nearby cities.
About 60 faculty members and 120 students at the Johns Hopkins Global mHealth Initiative are working on 51 projects examining how mobile technology could improve care. In March 2013, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will introduce two new courses on incorporating mobile technology into the field of global health.
Alain Labrique -- a professor of International Health and Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University -- said, "What mobile technologies are doing is changing the way that we see global health in terms of our ability to impact populations, to collect data in real time, to develop real strategies to impact public health that we hadn't thought of before."
Although researchers say that mobile technology is one of the fastest ways to deliver care to individuals in remote areas, they note that challenges to mobile health implementation include:
- A lack of information on the effects of using such technology; and
- The need for more medical professionals to support a larger number of people seeking access to care (Novak, New York Times, 5/13).