In recent years, the development of mobile applications has multiplied in all business sectors in the world. Today, its use is targeted to manage every aspect of our lives, such as sleep, shopping, and finances. But Mobile Health (mHealth) has also emerged, which has a direct relationship with doctors and their relationship with patients.
What does it consist of?
According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), mHealth is the practice of medicine and public health supported by mobile devices such as phones, patient monitoring devices, digital assistants and other wireless. Its objective is to connect patients with medical devices or sensors, medication reminders and health information through messages, telemedicine services, among others.
According to the study CIU Working Papers Series mHealth, Mexico is the mHealth market that is on the rise. So far, around 19 million Mexicans have downloaded applications related to health, wellness and fitness. This means that 22% of patients who use applications do so with the aim of taking care of their health.
For Praxedis Sánchez, general director of North Latin America at Dedalus, “mHealth opens a huge door of possibilities in the public health sector. It allows reaching a greater number of patients, generating greater quality and precision in the diagnosis, treatment, control and prevention of patient diseases”.
mHealth allows doctors, health institutions and patients to take a more active role in their health care. It helps them improve adherence to treatment, educate themselves in healthier habits, obtain greater access to health services, better management of administrative and control services, among others.
Currently, only one in ten people who need assistive technologies have access to them, according to data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
m-Health Opportunities
Health apps are the next step to meet the challenges:
Better prevent: mHealth favors the detection at an early stage of the chronic condition of patients through apps for remote diagnosis. Self-care tools promote healthy behaviors, motivating and engaging patients with their health.
Sustainability of health systems: Real-time doctor-patient communication contributes to making the health system more efficient. The apps allow reducing unnecessary consultations and hospitalizations and exercising greater control over patients with chronic diseases, among others. Additionally, mHealth has the ability to reduce costs by 15% thanks to remote patient monitoring.
Telemedicine: mHealth connects and gives developing countries the opportunity to obtain medical consultations remotely, which is an advantage to reduce inequity in access to health.
What are the advantages of mHealth?
Although the benefits that both patients and professionals can obtain from medical practice managed through mobile devices will depend on the effectiveness in the application of this technology to health procedures, tasks and activities, specific to each institution or doctor, it is It is true that there are some advantages that are general and evident in general terms
- Both patients and doctors can obtain more information more quickly and easily about the conditions, treatments, diagnoses and advances on the conditions, which will make each visit or physical encounter between them more effective.
- It is possible to remotely monitor chronic pathologies as well as the evolution of each patient, an issue that for doctors represents the opportunity to have greater control and knowledge of their patients in a personalized way.
- Many health applications can be a great support to contribute to the treatment of different illnesses both as sources of information as well as control tools for the patient.
- Online consultations as well as the delivery of electronic prescriptions, for example, will be processes that will gain agility.
The advantages of mHealth for both patients and doctors are obvious; however, it is also a reality that we are facing an environment that demands specific regulatory processes and standards and, until now, non-existent, an issue that must be addressed as soon as possible to improve medical practices in an increasingly digitalized era.