Financial Chronicle , FC KNOW
By Jan 10 2011
Studies on health-related uses of mobile phones indicate that they are improving access to emergency and routine services
Mobile telephony has sneaked into every sphere of life in such a way that it has become a veritable wireless organ of your body. But does the ubiquitous talk machine have the ability to help us in our health requirements? Yes, it does.
“Mobile technologies are tools that ought to be applied in ways to achieve local, national and regional health objectives as well as contribute to improving the lives of individuals”, states a World Health Organisation (WHO) report.
Empirical studies on health-related uses of mobile phones in low and middle income countries indicate that mobile phones are improving access to and coordination of both emergency and routine health services as well as contributing to overall family well-being.
mHealth (mobile phone based healthcare solutions) is just not limited to normal
users, it can help healthcare professionals like doctors, pharmacists, nurses and volunteers. mHealth can be delivered to the end user through voice, SMS or other applications.
Text-based solutions
Text messaging or SMS-based mHealth solutions are both simple and popular. Examples abound on the use of SMS-based mHealth solutions. A pilot scheme in Nigeria uses unique scratch codes on medicine bottles and packets of pills. When the code is sent as an SMS to a free phone number, a return message will reveal whether the drug is genuine. The results have been encouraging and would be a great step forward in thwarting counterfeit medicines.
A group called Text to Change operating in Uganda sends text messages to the population to improve awareness of Aids treatment and prevention. They encourage participation in a quiz to raise awareness. This has resulted in 40 per cent increase in those going in for HIV tests.
In South Africa, SIM pill is a sensor-equipped pill bottle with a SIM card that informs doctors whether patients are taking their tuberculosis medicine.
The Kerala government has recen-tly introduced a free SMS service for providing contact details of the nearest health facility/specialty centre. An SMS is sent along with a pin code. The reply SMS will have the immediate contact details of requested facility and specialty centre.
Multimedia applications
Researchers from University of California, Berkeley, conducted a pilot programme using videos on mobile phones to persuade pregnant women to utilise health services in rural India. The programme used NRHM’s (National Rural Health Mission) accredited social health activists (Ashas) to educate pregnant women with short persuasive videos. The programme also provided testimonial videos on mobile phones intended to motivate Ashas. The results have been encouraging and could be deployed across the rural landscape of India.
Smartphone applications will enable the mHealth industry to successfully reach out to 500 million of a total 1.4 billion smartphone users in 2015, says a global mobile health market report 2010-2015 by research2guidance. There are already over 17,000 healthcare-related applications in the various Apps stores. These applications cater to doctors, medical students and normal users. Epocrates Rx is a mobile drug reference application popular among doctors. This application is available on all the top smartphone platforms. There are plenty of applications for diet, exercise and yoga. Pedometer app provides accurate count of strolling, walking and running as well as provides interesting statistics. A Harvard Health publication report of November 2010 states that applications for diabetes management, high blood pressure, stress reduction, first aid, hearing and vision assist are highest-rated and most widely used apps for common health problems
A millennium villages project report talks about an innovative use of iPods and other MP3 devices to teach medical students how to identify various types of murmurs by an American university. A cardiovascular surgeon at the Arizona Heart Institute is using iPods to educate his patients about diet, exercise, basic anatomy and surgical procedures.
Doctor-on-call services
Doctor-on-call is a useful service, which helps a patient decide the immediate course of action to be taken based on a doctor’s advice. For example, in Mexico, MedicallHome provides healthcare advice using the phone and caters to over one million subscribers and their families for a cost that is far less than a visit to a physician. Voice-based approach, in fact, would immensely help areas with low literacy population. In India, the 108 service that provides critical emergency care in nine states is a huge success. Recently, Tata Indicom has launched an anytime, anywhere doctor-on-call pan-India service supporting all regional languages.
Although mHealth solutions have been successful, there are not many solutions that have been replicated across regions ensuring comprehensive coverage. mHealth solutions certainly provide immense opportunity in helping the common man but there is need for concerted efforts in bringing all the key stakeholders, including the government, in the mHealth ecosystem.
The writer is director, engineering, Teleca Software
By Jan 10 2011
Studies on health-related uses of mobile phones indicate that they are improving access to emergency and routine services
Mobile telephony has sneaked into every sphere of life in such a way that it has become a veritable wireless organ of your body. But does the ubiquitous talk machine have the ability to help us in our health requirements? Yes, it does.
“Mobile technologies are tools that ought to be applied in ways to achieve local, national and regional health objectives as well as contribute to improving the lives of individuals”, states a World Health Organisation (WHO) report.
Empirical studies on health-related uses of mobile phones in low and middle income countries indicate that mobile phones are improving access to and coordination of both emergency and routine health services as well as contributing to overall family well-being.
mHealth (mobile phone based healthcare solutions) is just not limited to normal
users, it can help healthcare professionals like doctors, pharmacists, nurses and volunteers. mHealth can be delivered to the end user through voice, SMS or other applications.
Text-based solutions
Text messaging or SMS-based mHealth solutions are both simple and popular. Examples abound on the use of SMS-based mHealth solutions. A pilot scheme in Nigeria uses unique scratch codes on medicine bottles and packets of pills. When the code is sent as an SMS to a free phone number, a return message will reveal whether the drug is genuine. The results have been encouraging and would be a great step forward in thwarting counterfeit medicines.
A group called Text to Change operating in Uganda sends text messages to the population to improve awareness of Aids treatment and prevention. They encourage participation in a quiz to raise awareness. This has resulted in 40 per cent increase in those going in for HIV tests.
In South Africa, SIM pill is a sensor-equipped pill bottle with a SIM card that informs doctors whether patients are taking their tuberculosis medicine.
The Kerala government has recen-tly introduced a free SMS service for providing contact details of the nearest health facility/specialty centre. An SMS is sent along with a pin code. The reply SMS will have the immediate contact details of requested facility and specialty centre.
Multimedia applications
Researchers from University of California, Berkeley, conducted a pilot programme using videos on mobile phones to persuade pregnant women to utilise health services in rural India. The programme used NRHM’s (National Rural Health Mission) accredited social health activists (Ashas) to educate pregnant women with short persuasive videos. The programme also provided testimonial videos on mobile phones intended to motivate Ashas. The results have been encouraging and could be deployed across the rural landscape of India.
Smartphone applications will enable the mHealth industry to successfully reach out to 500 million of a total 1.4 billion smartphone users in 2015, says a global mobile health market report 2010-2015 by research2guidance. There are already over 17,000 healthcare-related applications in the various Apps stores. These applications cater to doctors, medical students and normal users. Epocrates Rx is a mobile drug reference application popular among doctors. This application is available on all the top smartphone platforms. There are plenty of applications for diet, exercise and yoga. Pedometer app provides accurate count of strolling, walking and running as well as provides interesting statistics. A Harvard Health publication report of November 2010 states that applications for diabetes management, high blood pressure, stress reduction, first aid, hearing and vision assist are highest-rated and most widely used apps for common health problems
A millennium villages project report talks about an innovative use of iPods and other MP3 devices to teach medical students how to identify various types of murmurs by an American university. A cardiovascular surgeon at the Arizona Heart Institute is using iPods to educate his patients about diet, exercise, basic anatomy and surgical procedures.
Doctor-on-call services
Doctor-on-call is a useful service, which helps a patient decide the immediate course of action to be taken based on a doctor’s advice. For example, in Mexico, MedicallHome provides healthcare advice using the phone and caters to over one million subscribers and their families for a cost that is far less than a visit to a physician. Voice-based approach, in fact, would immensely help areas with low literacy population. In India, the 108 service that provides critical emergency care in nine states is a huge success. Recently, Tata Indicom has launched an anytime, anywhere doctor-on-call pan-India service supporting all regional languages.
Although mHealth solutions have been successful, there are not many solutions that have been replicated across regions ensuring comprehensive coverage. mHealth solutions certainly provide immense opportunity in helping the common man but there is need for concerted efforts in bringing all the key stakeholders, including the government, in the mHealth ecosystem.
The writer is director, engineering, Teleca Software
