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2000 — 2010
Mobile Healthcare
Changing the Face of Healthcare Mobile Healthcare is quickly emerging as a channel that drives accessible, real time and efficient healthcare delivery
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fter taking the telecom sector by storm, mobile phones are set to change the way healthcare is delivered. Be it sending an SMS to track down the closest healthcare facility, or an attempt to track truant government doctors who neglect their official duties by practising privately on the side, or even a more evolved form of a cell phone that can monitor the condition of HIV and malaria patients and test water quality at disaster sites and undeveloped areas. Mobile Healthcare or mHealth is a term for medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, PDAs, and other wireless devices. mHealth appli-
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cations include the use of mobile devices in collecting community and clinical health data, delivery of healthcare information to practitioners, researchers, and patients, real-time monitoring of patient vital signs. Last year, Bihar State Government has announced to give free mobile phone services to its doctors in an attempt to reduce truancy. Many government doctors neglect their official duties by practising privately on the side. The main purpose of the move is to be able to get in touch with the doctors at any time. Their movements will also be tracked by a system. Similarly, for the first time in India, a mobile phone doctorto-patient service called ‘Doctor on Call’ was launched. The 9 to 9 service that provides
> www.ehealthonline.org > January 2011
live interaction was pioneered by BPL Mobile, Mumbai’s leading mobile service. “The role of the stakeholders in mHealth will play a major role in the success of efficient healthcare model. The Government is interested in leveraging this model due to the penetration of mobile phones in rural and inaccessible areas. The way forward is to shift the focus to driving medical value – mHealth solutions should build efficiency and must cut costs in healthcare delivery. A successful mhealth model should have a cross-carrier approach for the infrastructure, solutions should be handset independent and should work with a variety of connectivity standards (Bluetooth, GPRS) with minimal switching costs.
The role of the stakeholders in mHealth will play a major role in the success of efficient healthcare model. The Government is interested in leveraging this model due to the penetration of mobile phones in rural and inaccessible areas.
Dr Ruchi Dass Vice President, Lifetime Wellness Rx International