The Journal of mHealth Vol 1 Issue 6 (Dec 2014) | Page 25

Empowering Patients: How the mHealth Vision has become a Reality Where we are now We are finding an appetite from clinical services to integrate digital into service transformation based on an awareness that the expectations and digital literacy of people accessing services is changing all the time. We are working closely with corporate functions to remove barriers and enable even the most simple of innovations, such as e-clinics using Skype type tools, to be realised. Our most developed innovation is an app prototype which enables people accessing the Yorkshire Centre for Eating Disorders to set goals and share food tracking with their clinician. We are also currently in the process of building a bespoke SMS system that enables our Assertive Outreach team to keep low level contact with people who are often unwilling recipients of care; the aim is to create more acceptable and supportive channels of communication. We have just received funding from commissioners to run an 18 month ‘Digital Innovation Lab’ led by young people to develop digital tools for mental health and wellbeing in the city. These are just a few of many projects we have in various stages of development. At the time of writing we are currently planning our fourth ‘Discovery Day’ which will bring a range of clinical services t ogether with designers, developers and academics to prototype digital artefacts. Using hack and service design approaches, the day aims to accelerate innovative ideas and enable clinicians to address wicked problems. Future plans We are now nine months in to the programme and our key priority is first and foremost to deliver and deploy the digital tools that we have been busy building. Secondly, we are focusing on options to sustain and develop the programme over the next 12 months. If you’d like to find out more about the programme or are interested in collaboration we’d love to hear from you! Victoria Betton is Programme Director at the mHealthHabitat. If you would like to find out more about the mHealthHabitat you can follow on Twitter @mHealthHabitat or go to the website at www.mhealthhabitat.co.uk. Get in touch directly at [email protected] n Empowering Patients: How the mHealth Vision has become a Reality ByTim Davis, CEO and Founder, Exco InTouch There is overwhelming evidence that all over the world the cost of healthcare is rising; it is estimated that chronic conditions account for more than 75% of healthcare costs in the USA[1], whilst in the UK non-adherence to medications is said to cost the NHS over £500M per year[2]. Looking back at the historical problems facing patients trying to control and monitor their conditions, it is clear that improvements were not only needed – they were essential. The facts laid themselves bare: a basic lack of patient engagement; the inability of the patient to access their medical data; the patient not being supported with the right information at the right time; little or no transparency on their conditions and what their treatments would require; and poor access to the healthcare professionals. It is for the benefit of not only the patient, but the entire healthcare industry that these mistakes are eradicated, and that steps are taken to approach the treatment of chronic conditions in different, more innovative ways. The numbers involved are quite stagger- ing. Taking diabetes as an example; in the US alone, there are around 24 mil- lion diabetes sufferers. While 18 million of those are diagnosed, only 15 million actually receive treatment. Of that number, as little as 6 million patients are well controlled and feel as though they are on a journey that will lead to them taking charge of their condition. This is not just a concern for patients, but also the healthcare professionals and payers. It is estimated that increased patient engagement could decrease care costs of the US diabetes patients from as much as $8,867 to $4,570 per year, resulting in a $4,297 saving per patient[3]. Simple economics show us that by engaging with the patient in a way that will help them understand their condition and empower them to monitor it remotely, not only can the patient take charge of their own lives, but this cost will come spiraling down. Enter mHealth: leveraging mobile technology to engage patients Mobile technology is ideally placed to help meet this challenge. Access to mobile and digital technology has seen huge growth in recent years; there are Continued on page 24 The Journal of mHealth 23