Restructuring the Health Care Information Pathway: Mobile Health's Consumer Impact

Background: Mobile technologies are radically transforming the interactions between consumers, health care providers and health care intermediaries. Whereas previous modalities of information exchange were mostly one-way, mobile health care systems have nearly unlimited potential to create bi-directional information pathways in a variety of settings, including both clinical and administrative. Enabled by advances in wireless protocols, mobile devices, apps and technology platforms, this new age of consumer-driven healthcare is redefining and streamlining information exchange.

Program background: In “Restructuring the Health Care Information Pathway: Mobile Health’s Consumer Impact,” participants will learn about mobile health’s influence on two critical information pathways affecting the consumer: Patient Care and Payer-Provider Interactions. The presentation will show how mobile health systems have evolved into an extended network of technologies that enable remote content delivery and data collection. This framework makes possible the distribution of both administrative and clinical information for the consumer and gives health care providers the data that makes personalized care a reality. With an understanding of what makes the system possible, conference participants will see examples of mobile health solutions for both pathways that include:

• Hardware-enabled mobile health monitoring devices for patient monitoring
• Mobile applications used for the assessment and treatment of disease states
• Future mobile initiatives regarding electronic health records

Evaluation Methods and Results: These examples will demonstrate how mobile applications are useful tools for a wide range of acute and chronic conditions, such as traumatic brain injury and cancer, and can include information regarding medication, patient education videos for therapies and even remote health care monitoring.

Conclusions: While the uses of mobile applications for patient care are numerous, there are also many possibilities to help streamline administrative workflows through the access of electronic health records (EHRs) on mobile devices. Through efforts such as the “Blue Button Initiative,” EHRs can be made accessible in a variety of portable formats. Mobile applications can interpret and display EHR data and provide beneficiaries with the means to update their information and facilitate transactions with health care providers.

Implications for research and/or practice: Following the review of mobile health systems and the analysis of mobile health examples, participants will learn best practices and strategies for the development of mobile health care solutions. Included among these are areas such as back end systems, wireless protocols, content optimization, security and privacy and other key criteria used to implement a mobile computing strategy for patients. With this information, participants can develop an informed perspective for their own mobile health care programs.