Trimester
Library Newsletter
Newsletter of the Rotunda Hospital Library & Information Service Volume 5 Supplement 1 Sept 2012
mHealth:
Revolutionising Modern
Health Care with Mobile
Communications and
the Medical App
M
obile Health (mHealth) is becoming more
of a reality as medical practices increasingly
embrace mobile technologies, according to
a new study by CompTIA, the non-profit association for
the information technology industry.
While laptop and notebook PCs are commonplace
in the medical community, the next wave of mobile
adoption is well underway as providers turn to tablets,
Smartphone's and applications to increase productivity
and improve patient care, according to CompTIA’s
Third Annual Healthcare IT Insights and Opportunities
study.¹
As mobile technologies have become more userfriendly, affordable and powerful, the appeal to
businesses of all types, including healthcare providers,
has grown. New devices, new apps and new methods
of connectivity have given healthcare staff a broad
array of tools to better care for patients, contributing
to improved efficiencies and savings.¹
A LWW’s poll shows that 71 percent of nurses use
their phone for work and 66 percent of students use
them for school. And it was also reported recently
that about 85 percent of physicians own Smartphone's
and many use them for work related purposes.²
The mHealth field operates on the premise
that technology integration within the health
sector has the great potential to promote a better
health communication to achieve healthy lifestyles,
improve decision-making by health professionals
(and patients) and enhance healthcare quality
by improving access to medical and health
information and facilitating instantaneous
communication in places where this was not
previously possible. 3, 4
The appeal of mHealth is that it enables
communication in motion, allowing individuals to
access essential information irrespective of time
and place. The many objectives and benefits of
mHealth include increased access to healthcare
and health related information; improved ability
to diagnose and track diseases; timelier public
health information; and expanded access to
ongoing medical education and training for health
workers. 5, 6