Member T-Pro writes about what is mHealth and why is it important?

Technology today is aiming to focus on providing clinicians access to the data they need, where they need it, at the point of care. This differs from technology in the early 2000s, which sometimes prioritised the quality of data captured over the ease of capturing it, more recent developments have increasingly spotlighted usability. Many companies today are rising to the challenge to provide technology that enables clinicians to interact with the EMR and are changing the way clinicians work.  

What is mHealth and why is it important?

mHealth encompasses any mobile applications that support medical treatment and public health practices through smartphone devices, patient monitoring gadgets, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other types of wireless network devices.

mHealth apps are now playing and delivering practical benefits to prevent, cure and manage diseases. As well as reducing burnout and other problems associated with overworked clinicians and support staff.  In this respect, health tracking apps can really play a vital role. As per a recent survey by the World Health Organisation (WHO) around 93% of medical facilities consider mHealth apps to play a crucial role in the betterment of healthcare.

How mobility can enable paperless/paper light transfer of care: Thanks to mHealth apps many medical documents including transfer of care documents, discharge summaries, clinic letters, prescriptions, and other documents can be created, reviewed and approved on a mobile device.

This allows clinicians to efficiently fulfil their documentation requirements in any care setting, without the need to log into a terminal, handwrite notes or undertake any out-of-hours noting or documentation.  By providing them access to data at the point of care, companies like T-Pro are removing the inefficiencies associated with the digitalisation of records and EMR adoption. This not only saves clinicians time and reduces burnout, but also creates more efficient timely pathways for electronic transfer of care. Which ultimately improves the patient experience.

The difference between mHealth and Telehealth: The difference between mHealth and telehealth, then, is that telehealth refers to all instances of healthcare delivery via the use of modern technology (virtual consultations, remote monitoring, etc.)  Whereas mHealth relates to the use of mobile technology specifically as it relates to access to data.

Think of mHealth, then, as user-directed health technology that falls into the categories of productivity software. It may help to think of it as something akin to MS Office or Email, whereas telehealth is more accurately defined as clinician-directed remote patient service

mHealth solutions can yield positive outcomes for both patients and clinicians.

Key benefits include:

● Fingertip access to data such as patient profiles, history, medications, etc.

● Ability to create and sign documents on the go

● Improve timeliness of transfer of care

● Generate significant cost savings and reduce administrative burden

● Allow clinicians to focus on patient care

● Greater clinician satisfaction

● Improved EMR adoption

● Reduction in human error through electronic record-keeping and real-time data collection

● Reducing reliance on pen and paper