Mobile health is one of the four modalities of long-distance healthcare delivery. The applications for mobile health typically monitor the patient’s basic vital signs, provide specific tools for personal healthcare management, contain personal data that could be accessed and used to establish a personified plan, and enable direct contact between the patient and the doctor by using video, audio, or text-based channels (Weinstein et al., 2014). They also contain various information that could be used in healthcare education.
The advantages of mobile healthcare technology are numerous. It enables a doctor to monitor their patient’s vitals, provide prompt healthcare advice, and empower customers to take care of themselves by using the gadget most commonly found in their possession (Weinstein et al., 2014). Smartphones are very ubiquitous and can be used in a variety of situations, which is helpful for individuals suffering from various disabilities, such as memory loss.
At the same time, the two significant disadvantages of the technology involve security and reimbursement for care provided using telehealth. Should a smartphone be lost, all personal data may fall into the wrongs hands and later be used to exploit and blackmail the individual (Marcoux & Vogenberg, 2016). Even when all safeguards are in place, there is a chance of accidental exposure of personal medical records to the patient’s family members, friends, and third parties. At the same time, doctors providing telehealth are rarely reimbursed for the time and expertise provided through mHealth channels (Marcoux & Vogenberg, 2016).
An example of telehealth use of smartphone applications can relate to dieting and personal exercise. An app can remind the patient to perform various activities or calculate the number of calories consumed every day. Another potential application of mHealth is in geriatric care. Specialized applications could be used in nursing care to remind older patients to take their medicine or provide a medium for immediate consultation, should a problem arise.
References
Marcoux, R. M., & Vogenberg, F. R. (2016). Telehealth: applications from a legal and regulatory perspective. Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 41(9), 567.
Weinstein, R. S., Lopez, A. M., Joseph, B. A., Erps, K. A., Holcomb, M., Barker, G. P., & Krupinski, E. A. (2014). Telemedicine, telehealth, and mobile health applications that work: Opportunities and barriers. The American Journal of Medicine, 127(3), 183-187.