Sophia Salenius leading expert in the international IT healthcare field

A recent survey from PwC Health Research Institute found that 86 percent of physicians are interested in accessing EHRs wirelessly, 83 percent want to use mobile technology to prescribe medication, and 60 percent want to use mobile technology to communicate with patients.

It is interesting that surveys are done in terms of what the doctors would like to use mobile technology for. The patient is equally mobile during the period of care, so it would be interesting to see a survey with them, showing their needs.

The recent survey shows that the three main elements for succesful disease management is on the top off the wishlist for doctors. Accessing EHRs wirelessly – for good decision support

Prescribing medication – to manage the disease and individualize medication

To communicate with the patient – ongoing disease management

We have built in all theese features in our application. The Doctor can choose from a webbbased EHR that can be accessed via smartphones. The patient can chose from a textbased phone or a smartphone.

The awareness increases, as the understanding of mobile technology and disease management. This is a good base for better care and a healthier public!

mHealth is new. Disease management is not. I have during the past year met several so called mHealth advisors that wears the “mHealth hat” without having the necessary knowledge and experience.

To engage an advisor is humble and shows good business skills. However, what if the advisor is not as skilled as believed? How can that be detected, as the main reason for engaging an advisor is just the absence of knowledge in the specific area. How can an advisor, or consultant stay neutral, when taking multiple assignments? One day here and next day with your competitor. (more…)

Everyone wants to jump on the “mHealth train”. But so many for the wrong reasons!

Returning from a business trip to Asia, I discovered – yet again – that organizations use the mHealth word to increase their profile as a care provider to their customers. Unfortunatly, without having a real mHealth service.

In this case a phone number is provided to the mobile phone user. In case of illness he/she can call in and get to a triage system, where hospital helpdesk is guiding the person based on questions to the right specialist.

To me this is mearely an improvement of traditional customer care, not a mHealth service. A mHealth service should be an extension of care outside the care setting, using wireless technology. In simple terms; the care of the patient – surveillance, control of symptoms, patient education, tailoring the medication to the patients needs, monitoring treatment progress, real time patient diary etc. – are areas where wireless technology can be used. And that is the definition of a real mHealth application.

As with any brand, misuse can destroy it. Let’s try to keep the mHealth word “clean”. In it’s true meaning it can and should give the caregiver credit for implementing this for the patients so useful service!

mHealth services can be provided with  textbased mobil phones. In fact they can be provided with PDA’s as we did before the wireless technology enabled us to provide the same service on text capable mobile phones. And – yes – now we can provide them on smartphones and Iphones.

The challenges in health care have been known for a long time and have not changed. They are, amongst others, patient education, individualized medication, compliance to treatments, surveillance of symptoms when the patient is not in a health care setting.

All theese challenges can be adressed with mHealth applications. And they do not need a smartphone. An mHealth service based on secure textmessaging can give the same effect and results. (more…)

To increase awareness and knowledge of a disease, educational messages can be sent to the patient. Formal studies and anecdotal evidence demonstrate that SMS alerts have a measurable impact on and a greater ability to influence behavior than radio and television campaigns.

But also screening surveys can be performed with mHealth services.

In different countries that can work in different ways, but who ever (employer, insurance company, public health care) will take the cost for a developed illness, can implement a screening program to stop signs of behaviour that can create it.

Obesity, as an example, can give diabetes, hearth diseases etc. Imagine how much easier it is to stop a devastating weight gain trend, before it has fully developed to a health hazaradous level.

Research shows that lifestyle changes are more effective than taking a pill. And for diabetes patients there are no pills to prevent or cure diabetes.

But lifestyle changes are difficult without help and support and that is where mHealth services will make a difference.

(more…)

I recently read an article regarding pricing of mHealth services; “Is Fee-for-Service Better Than Free for Global Health and Development?” http://www.justmeans.com/Is-Fee-for-Service-Better-Than-Free-for-Global-Health-Development/43225.html

I agree with the CEO of Sproxil.com Ashifi Gogo that even in low income countries, people will pay for value. As with any product or service, if it adds value to the user, they will pay for it. InIndia for example, 15 per cent of the health care is publicly financed, four per cent is from social insurance, one per cent private insurance and the remaining 80 per cent being out of pocket as user fees (80 per cent of which goes to the private sector). Two thirds of the users are purely out-of pocket users and 90 per cent of them are from the poorest section. (more…)

In 2002 we performed a clinical trial with our RegPoint disease management application. Our goal was to evaluate if  Parkinson disease be more effectively treated with help of a handheld computer? In 2002 there was no mobile phones, so we developed our RegPoint solution firstly on PDA’s. Today it is developed for mobile phones.

Background

Patients with the Parkinson disease often have several medicines, at many dosage occasions and different symptoms that fluctuate during the day. This makes it difficult both for the patient and the doctor to optimize treatment.

Our RegPoint disease management solution is a system for to register medicines and symptoms. The patients received reminders and registered continuously symptoms and intake of medicine on the handheld computer.

Trough a dock station all the data was transferred to a host unit (PC) during re-visits to Physician. Data is graphically presented on the PC and can be used for therapy adjustments, change of medicine brand etc.

It was a patient with Parkinson disease that originally came up with the idea for the software. (more…)

In the early 90′s I was invited to join an expertgrup put together of The National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden, in order to evaluate and create standards for IT-applications in healthcare. The launch of Windows and PC’s had created a hawoc of IT-applications without any clear specifications or standards.

Everybody was thrilled with the new technology that could make the health care more efficient and IT-companies an untapped market for huge profits. But not enough research was done and there where hospitals buying systems for millions of dollars that they never used. For several reasons, the applications did not “speak” to each other, the technology was obsolete and the lack of proper research for specifications.

Another problem was support and education. International companies sold IT-solutions to countries without building up local support organisations and soon they became more of a problem than the effective support system to the health care workers.

It took years for some hospitals – more or less the 90′s – to get a working IT-infrastructure that supported the organisation and was costeffective.

Are we doing the same mistakes now with mHealth services? I have read articles and listened to speaches on Conferences that clearly indicates that. New companies are formed without proper medical expertise or research and a myriad of “mHealth apps” are launched weekly. (more…)

Welcome to Sophia Salenius’ blog. Here you will be able to learn about the latest development and trends in mHealth.