A Reality Checkpoint for Mobile Health: Three Challenges to Overcome

摘要

The use of mobile electronic devices to support medical or public health practice, or m-health, is currently a hot topic. It has been predicted that by 2017 there will be “more mobile phones than people” on the planet [1], and currently three-quarters of the world's population have access to a mobile phone [2]. The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced [3] that m-health has the “potential to transform the face of health service delivery across the globe,” and there is increasing media and consumer interest in m-health, illustrated for example by a recent panel at the US Consumer Electronics Show on “The Digital Health Revolution” [4]. Survey data illustrates that most regions of the world, including many low- and middle-income countries, are actively working on m-health pilot projects or have set up systems, for example, for managing treatment compliance, sending appointment reminders, or conducting surveys [3].