Choosing a healthcare provider can be difficult. Sure, a patient needs a provider in line with their needs—one can’t get dental work from an oncologist. However, once a list of applicable providers is generated it can be difficult to narrow it down. Use these helpful pointers when choosing a healthcare provider.

Insurance Coverage
Insurance plans only accept services from certain doctors and vice versa. An insurance company will provide a list of which dentists, physicians, or specialists they partner with in each area. It’s important that this list be the starting point when choosing a provider. A patient does not want to start building a relationship with a doctor s/he cannot pay for. One should take the list of providers and carefully research highly skilled physicians available.

Provider Expertise
Whether a doctor is a specialist or generalist, a prospective patient should consider a physician’s training. A few Internet searches can easily yield his or her credibility, including degrees or certifications. Knowing a doctor’s specialties can help narrow down choices for a physician.

Finding a doctor who has a special interest or experience in a certain area, say feet and joints, can be advantageous to a patient facing ankle issues. Perhaps he or she doesn’t require a specialist, but would appreciate the doctor’s niche.

Location of a Service
If an individual needs a specialist it can be difficult to find one close by. How close a patient wants to be to a doctor’s office may depend on how frequently visits occur and how urgent those visits are. If a patient sees a specialist once a year for a scheduled checkup then proximity is not as much of an issue as it would be for a patient that may need immediate care.

Provider Personality
The doctor’s office can be a place where people become afraid to ask questions. Patients are worried they will be judged, looked down upon or come off as distrusting if they question their doctor. Learning how to interact with patients is a strenuous part of doctors’ educations because it is crucial to how effective they are as a care provider.

One should only build a relationship with a doctor that she/he feels comfortable with, whether you prefer a doctor who gets down to business or one who gives extensive explanations and multiple options for treatments.

Providers should have a comforting personality and be willing to answer all patient questions and concerns. Having a provider that truly cares may make the difference between positive and negative visits, but it can also translate into more effective treatments. When it comes to handling healthcare there are numerous ways to find assistance, from disability equipment to services that organize your medical information, but a skilled, engaging and available doctor is one of the best allies a patient can have.

*This post was written by Nan Gibbons. Nan is a fitness expert and marketer who loves traveling the world to advise at sporting events. When she’s stateside, she enjoys spending time volunteering at environmental organizations and spending time with her lab mix, Cody.

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>>>>>

I’ve always felt that corporate values were a bit hokey.  An HR manifesto designed to make employees and shareholders feel good. However, now that I’m faced with writing job descriptions, I see value statements in a different light. Our corporate values will serve as a guide in the choices we make, the things we do, and more importantly perhaps, the things we don’t do.

By defining our corporate values early in the company’s history, we’ll attract a team of exceptional employees and partners that share our values. Together we’ll build a great company.

Be understanding and responsive to our customer’s challenges.

Our #1 responsibility is to listen to our customers, and respond to their needs by building better products and providing customer service that helps them get the most from their investment.

Deliver value by doing more with fewer resources.

It’s never been cheaper or faster to build software than now, and it is always improving. Agile software development, virtual teams, hard work, and adoption of the latest business tools (mostly free, thanks to Google) are a few of the ways we keep our expenses down.

Create quality and take pride in our work.

We believe that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well. We expect everyone to do their best, and to be accountable for their actions.

Build open and honest relationships.

It’s not a big mystery who we are. We strive for transparency in our communications. We value feedback from all. You can follow our story here on this blog, on Twitter, or send us your thoughts (support(at)rememberitnow(dot)com. As for the honesty part of this value statement, that shouldn’t require any explanation.

Make things easier, and be easy to work with.

For most people, technology adds complexity to their lives. Our job is to build software that makes things easier not harder. And while we are doing that, we want to be easy to work with. This doesn’t mean we say yes all the time, or that we let others take advantage of us. It means that we respect one another. We help others reach their goals and we don’t hide behind email or voicemail, or pass our responsibillites off to someone else.

Bring passion and a positive attitude to all we do.

It’s an exciting time to be in business as the Internet reshapes how we build, market and deliver software. We’re fortunate to be able to participate in the Health 2.0 revolution. We are thrilled to empower patients to reach their own health goals. It’s a gift to be able to create something brand new. If someone’s passion fades on our team, it’s time for them to move on.

Embrace creativity, innovation and change.

The healthcare industry is not known for rapid change, but RememberItNow! is. We believe it is better to move quickly and risk a mistake than to dawdle and miss an opportunity. We have a bias toward action. If you work with us, expect constant adaptation and change in order to evolve ahead of our competitors.

So, this is our first cut at our corporate values. Help us strengthen them by leaving your comments below.

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We are proud to announce that RememberItNow! has recently been profiled on DailyDisruption.com for being “one of the best way people can take control of their health.”

DailyDisruption.com is a new website for Disrupt TV, a new online program that profiles early stage companies that disrupt the way we live and work.  It airs on the front page of WebMD and in 127 countries around the world on Voice of America.

We were more than flattered to be profiled as a “Disruptor” this past week. See our profile here and share your thoughts! If you would like to share your personal experience with RememberItNow! please let us know be emailing Alex Bettencourt at ABettencourt (at) RememberItNow (dot) com.  Or, share your RememberItNow! feedback through this short survey.

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The medical field has been slow to adapt to the recent technological revolution. Many hospitals make use of the latest diagnostic equipment, but continue to store all patient data on paper. Both doctors and patients cite concerns over expense vs return or the security of digital records. However, electronic record keeping has many benefits over paper records and they prove to outweigh any negative aspects.

Recent advancements allow doctors to organize files more efficiently and enable near real-time tracking for high risk patients. If these advancements are built upon effectively, both medical professionals and their patients will benefit from faster, more detailed analysis and a unified medical record system.

Advancements in Health Record Technology

Sprint’s M2M healthcare initiative is a prime example of a recent advancement in electronic record keeping. They offer doctors new abilities, like GPS tracking for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. They also give doctors faster, more unified access to patient data, such as records and test results. Other companies are trying to digitize doctors’ offices by moving all record keeping to secure cloud servers and moving points of contact from clipboards to tablets and desktop computers.

Most companies that offer electronic medical records allow their clients to store their files locally, which generally prevents sharing patient records among different hospital networks. At this time no standard exists for file storage, which is a major barrier to some of the best benefits that electronic record keeping has to offer.

The Future of Electronic Record keeping

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We are very proud to announce our first advocacy partnership with St. Joseph’s School of Pharmacy and Script Your Future. The Script Your Future campaign is led by National Consumers League (NCL) and designed to help you take your medicine as directed. It’s also created to help patients manage health problems such as diabetes, COPD, asthma, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The large, 3-year, national Script Your Future campaign started this spring and there are several public and private partners nationwide.St. Joseph’s role as a School of Pharmacy is to collaborate with their students and faculty in bringing the campaign message to their community in creative ways.

One of those creative ways will be attending the NBC CT Health and Wellness Festival in Hartford, Connecticut on October 1st and 2nd. At the festival they will pass out RememberItNow! cards that feature fast and easy QR codes that you can scan with your smart phone. See a sample of the cards below:

All you have to do is scan the code with your smartphone and you can sign up for your own RememberItNow! account in less than 2 minutes. Say hello free medication reminders, free wellness and educational tweets, treatment feedback and much more!

In 2007, the Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive poll reported one out of three adults taking a prescription drug on a regular basis did not follow their doctor-recommended course of treatment and two thirds of adults simply forgot to take their medication.

In 2010 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discovered the percentage of Americans who took at least one prescription drug had increased from 44% to 48% over the past decade. The use of two or more drugs escalated from 25% to 31% and the use of five or more drugs rose from 6% to 11%.

Patient noncompliance is costing our nation up $290 billion a year! To make matters worse, nearly 125,000 people die annually because they did not take their medicine as directed. Without effective medication management tools the risk of noncompliance and higher health care costs increases.

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Many hospitals and clinics have joined the social media revolution, turning to Twitter to dispense information to patients and their families. Individuals living with illness, medical students and those simply interested in lifestyle tips now have access to everything from advice about eating mindfully to health insurance. Here are ten healthcare providers of special interest that deliver the best tweets around.

1. @MayoClinic
Mayo Clinic’s history dates back to the 1800s. Tweets include techniques for managing stress, healthy eating tips, links to their blog and job postings. The clinic also promotes contests like Minnesota’s Brand Madness, which gives fans a chance to vote for the state’s beloved brand.

2. @sanjayguptaCNN
Sanjay Gupta is a neurosurgeon and professor at the Emory University School of Medicine and also CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent. Items of interest include a weekly medical mystery contest and links to his blog posts on CNN Health. He is respected by high-profile individuals like President Obama and Oprah Winfrey.

3. @NIMHgov
NIMH is dedicated to worldwide mental health research. Tweets include statistics about depression, tips for managing chronic pain and links to its blog. Subjects include reducing suicide rates and lessening the stigma of living with mental illness. NIMH also promotes posts written by other professionals in the mental health field.

4. @StJude
Famous for providing free treatment to children with devastating illnesses, tweets from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital often concern fundraising efforts. Founded by the late actor Danny Thomas, St. Jude has numerous supporters, including Cindy Crawford and snowboarder Shaun White. Thomas’ children, most notably Marlo Thomas, continue their father’s work.

5. @MedlinePlus
Though not classified as official medical advice, Medline Plus – the website of the National Institute of Health – tweets health and medicine news for patients and their families. Maintained by the National Library of Medicine, wellness information includes finding relief from snoring, statistics about eating disorders and facts about breast cancer.

6. @FDA_Drug_Info
Followers of this account are privy to safety communication about over-the-counter drug use and breaking news about drug approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA also promotes a drug safety podcast. The account is a gateway to FDA accounts, such as the Center for Tobacco Products.

7. @CDCgov
The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention offers a variety of health tips, including how to stay healthy while on vacation, parenting tips, news about cancer screenings, and, especially important now, how to prevent heat-related illnesses. Additional tweets highlight the benefits of breastfeeding and how to lower sodium intake.

9. @MobilePRM
Written by the experts that transform patient relationship management through mobile communications, Mobile PRM blog delivers fresh mHealth news daily. Here you can discover the latest trends and research affecting patients, caregivers and the healthcare ecosystem.

10. @RememberItNow!
RememberItNow supports its followers with medication and event reminders – very helpful for patients and their caregivers. They also provides tweets on care giving, eHealth news, mobile health news, and even suggestions for lowering a hospital bill. For those interested in specific advice about one subject, RememberItNow! also provides patients with reminders from their Tweets4Wellness, Tweets4Heart, Tweets4Baby, Tweets4Diabetes, Tweets2Succeed, and Tweets4Care accounts.

The variety of information available by following these accounts will help consumers make more informed decisions about their healthcare needs, save themselves money, and will make wellness information shared among family and friends more reliable and accurate. Here’s to improved health!

*This post was written by Nan Gibbons. Nan is a fitness expert and marketer who loves traveling the world to advise at sporting events. When she’s stateside, she enjoys spending time volunteering at environmental organizations and spending time with her lab mix, Cody.

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July 26th, 2011 Orinda CA - A new eBook, “How to Profit from the mHealth Revolution: Critical Rules for Using the Power of Mobile to Transform Your Patient Relationships” is now available for free download from Mobile PRM, the experts in mobile patient relationship management.

The eBook, written by Pamela Swingley, founder and CEO of Mobile PRM, is based upon more than two decades of customer relationship management expertise in the enterprise software industry.

The rapid and widespread adoption of smart phones is quickly shaping a new generation of customer relationships. According to industry analysts the greatest potential for transformation is in the area of mobile health. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute estimates the annual consumer market for remote/mobile monitoring devices and services to be $7.7 billion to $43 billion.

“While there is massive buzz about mobile health these days, there is a shortage of information on exactly how companies can implement and profit from mobile health services,” notes Swingley. “We wrote this eBook to help pharma executives, CRO’s, pharmacy benefit management, health plans, and ACO’s leverage smart phone technologies to improve patient acquisition, retention, and outcomes.”

This eBook is a must read for executives that want to learn how to:

• Increase adherence by helping patients take their medications correctly
• Obtain feedback from patients on how well treatments are working
• Build sticky patient and caregiver relationships
• Improve the ROI of your patient communication programs
• Connect directly with patients, all day, every day

“How to Profit from the mHealth Revolution” covers the converging trends that make this time ideal for implementing mobile solutions and increasing adoption. It also reveals the rules for mobile success and how to improve the return on investment, including research on the value of real-time engagement.

Discover the power of mobile health to build direct, two-way patient relationships that empower patients, engage marketers, and improve outcomes. Download your copy of “How to Profit from the mHealth Revolution” for free and send us your feedback! No registration is required: http://www.mobileprm.com/documents/Mobile_Profit.pdf.

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If you’re ready to learn as much as possible about the latest research on mobile health and medication adherence, you might feel a little overwhelmed. A quick Google Scholar search can give you more than 10 pages of results; which is why we did all the hard work for you. Below are our top 10 favorite reports on mHealth and medication adherence. Enjoy!

1. “Medication Adherence:  Making the Case for Increased Awareness”
Co-authored by Hayden B. Bosworth at Duke University Medical Center, and the National Consumers League. This report evaluates the different causes of medication non- adherence from: delaying prescription fills, failing to fill prescriptions, cutting dosages, and more. The data in this report also reveals how poor adherence leads to considerable morbidity, mortality, and avoidable health care costs.

2. “Morgan Stanley Mobile Internet Report 2009″
This is the original report that verified smart phone usage was about to explode. Mary Meeker’s report may be overwhelming at first, but this report provides interesting insight to smart phone use among different demographics.

3. “The Power of Mobile – Pew Internet Research 2010″
Susannah Fox rocked the health care industry with the release of this report, “The Power of Mobile.” In this report she declares the “Online Access Revolution” completely over. This general report offers a plethora of evidence on why our health care industry must also go mobile.

4. “The Fastest Growing and Most Successful Health & Medical Apps”
This report examines the current state of health and medical related apps through Apple’s App Store, BlackBerry’s App World and the apps available for Google’s Android platform.

5. “A Call For Clarity: Open Questions on the Scope of the FDA Regulation of mHealth”
This whitepaper analyzes what mHealth hardware and software the FDA regulates. It also evaluates what device classifications the FDA places on mHealth technology.

6. “March 2011 Kaiser Report on Mobile Health Technology”
Kaiser focuses on mobile technology’s aptitude to reach all corners of health care coverage, especially in underprivileged communities. It also observes how mobile reminders create opportunity to improve health care efficiency and medication adherence.  Unlike other reports, this Kaiser report also highlights challenges that hinder the full potential of mobile health technology.

7. “Capturing Value in the mHealth Oasis – An Opportunity for Mobile Network Operators“
This Arthur D. Little report analyzes the latest advances in mobile health technology and how it will transform health care delivery  from being physician-centric to patient-centric.

8. “Development and Validation of Motivational Messages to Improve Prescription Medication Adherence for Patients with Chronic Health Problems”
This research report is written and conducted by: Gary L. Kreps , Melinda M. Villagran, Xiaoquan Zhao, Colleen A. McHorney, Christy Ledford, Melinda Weathers, Brian Keefe, Department of Communication, George Mason University, and the National Cancer Institute. The objective of this report is to improve on previous medication compliance strategies, with SMS communication. Although intervention research is warranted to test the use of these motivational messages to promote medication adherence, it still provides valuable insight into what factors affect patient behavior.

9. “Cost of Patient Non-Compliance (Alignmap 2009 Study”
Alignment research provides a no-nonsense summary outlines the costs of noncompliance financially, physiologically, and socially. This report also evaluates methods of early recognition and interventions.

10. “mHealth Technologies: Applications to Benefit Older Adults, published by the Center for Technology and Aging (March 2011)”
This report discusses how “cell phones, smart phones, laptop and tablet computers, and other mobile-enabled devices are now used to help millions of older Americans, as well as their physicians and caregivers, in five areas: managing chronic disease, using medications properly, avoiding safety risks, accessing online health information, and staying well,” according to the Center for Technology and Aging.

11. “Mobile Communications for Medical Care: a Study of Current and Future Healthcare and Health Promotion Applications, and Their Use in China and Elsewhere”
Published by China Mobile in April 2011, Professor Ian Leslie Freng and Simon Sherrington share thorough accounts of their research on mHealth. Although this report is lengthy, it provides the most detail on all aspects of mobile health and its impact on unserved populations, illness prevention, behavior change, chronic disease management, health care delivery costs, public health programs and research.

Below are some other articles worth reading too:

1. Closing the Circle on Patient Adherence by Nicholas Basta, Pharmaceutical Commerce

2. The Real Cost of Patient Non-Adherence to Pharma Industry by Lisa Roner, Editor for Eye for Pharma

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Interested in learning more about mobile health and medication adherence from real professionals in the healthcare industry? Look no further. Below are the top 10 groups on LinkedIn you can join to learn more about patient compliance and mHealth.

1. Patient Adherence Solutions (500+ members)

This group is for anyone interested patient medication adherence. All patients, providers, payers, administrators, innovators, technology companies, researchers and stakeholders are especially welcomed to join this group. Members are encouraged to learn, share, and comment on news articles and discussions. Members are also encouraged to submit patient adherence, compliance, and persistence articles and start discussions. It is requested that submissions and comments stay on topic.

2. Patient Adherence, Compliance & Communication Strategy for Pharma (2,000 + members)

Although this group is for pharmaceutical executives who wish to place the patient at the center of their marketing, retention and sales strategy, it’s also a great place for outsiders to get a sneak peek into the most biggest priority among patient marketers and see how compliance is handled.

3. Innovative Solutions for Patient Compliance in Pharmacy (241+ members)

This networking group is created to connect pharmaceutical manufacturers with retail pharmacies and their technology providers. If you are interested in sharing ideas and solutions for more targeted patient reach efforts at the point of service in the pharmacy, this group is for you.

4.  Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (47,000 + members)

The HIMSS Group is constructed to stimulate discussion regarding the optimal use of health IT (HIT) and management systems. If you’re interested in the improvement of healthcare worldwide (which starts with patient adherence), you will like this group. Members frequently post questions and comments on the patient’s role and how it affects new advances in health care IT development. The goal of the discussion forum and subgroups is to lead change in the health IT and management systems field through knowledge sharing and communications among professionals.

5. Mobile Healthcare Industry Summit (573+ members)

This group has been set up to provide a forum for all people with a working interest in mobile healthcare and e-health innovation and implementation across networks, PCTS and NHS or equivalents, operators, device manufacturers, insurers, VCs, software applications developers and more. Although membership in this group is very diverse, you will often find frequent discussion on medication compliance and the role patients play in today’s health care.

6. Wireless Health (6,250+ members)

The Wireless Health group has over 6,000 global members and is a great resource for advancing professional knowledge and relationships. Here you will find an enthusiastic group of professional individuals interested in accelerating the adoption of wireless health and improving the health and well-being of all of us.

7.  Mobile Health and Medical APPs, Devices, Software & Technology (400 + members)

Discuss, comment and share your ideas on mobile health and medical devices, software, technology & APPs for iPhone, Android, iPad, tablet, Windows Phone 7, Meego, BlackBerry and other mobile platforms. This group is mainly for those interested in promoting their APPs, but a great place for patients to get an exclusive peak at the latest mobile innovations. Feel free to leave suggestions on the forums; developers and mobile companies might take notice!  Because most members include health care providers & executives, pharma executives, health/medical technologists and other industry leaders, medication adherence is a hot topic of discussion too. 

8. Medication & Treatment Compliance (66 + members)

Although this group has less than 100 members, it proves quality is better than quantity. The Medication & Treatment Compliance Forum is a private group for health plan professionals to access innovative strategies that improve health outcomes, quality and cost efficiency through improved compliance. If you are a health plan professional, and medication compliance is a high priority on your agenda, we strongly recommend sending the group leader a message with your request to join the group.

9. Innovation in Medication Adherence (115 + members)

Innovation in Medication Adherence group discussion is focused on pioneering actions that can or will make an impact on our nation’s “other drug problem.” This group also serves as an open discussion forum for sharing experiences, knowledge, insight, and questions related to medication adherence. The main objective of this forum is to stimulate new ideas and encourage next generation solutions; all feedback is welcome.

10. The Therapy Compliance Group (40 + members)

This group focuses on therapy compliance, which is also known as medication compliance or medication adherence. Although this is a small group, it is an open group for anyone interested in medication adherence. All members are encouraged to bring up their ideas, (no matter how big or small) related to medication compliance.

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It can be slightly overwhelming to ride along the waves of  mobile health technology because there are numerous advances to keep track of every day. If you’re wondering where to turn  for the latest mobile health news, don’t worry any longer. We have compiled a list of our top 10 resources for mobile health news. See our favorite resources below and discover the latest mHealth news and what it means for you.

1. MobiHealth News

MobiHealthNews chronicles the healthcare sector’s adoption of mobile technology. It offers a combination of breaking news, exclusive interviews, live event coverage and industry commentary to its growing readership of hospital administrators, healthcare service providers, physicians, nurses and key industry players transforming healthcare today.

2. Mobilehealthwatch

MobileHealthWatch.com is dedicated to point of care and mobile health news and resources. Also brought to you by the editors of Healthcare IT News. Mobile Health Watch enables readers to track the latest trends and developments in the mobile health space.

3. Mobile PRM

Mobile PRM blog delivers fresh mHealth news daily and it’s brought to you by the experts in transforming patient relationship management through mobile communications. Here you can always find out about the latest trends and research affecting patients, caregivers and the healthcare ecosystem.

4. iHealthBeat

iHealthBeat is also one of our favorite mobile health resources because it offers readers a more collective coverage of mobile health technology. It’s a free, daily news digest reporting on technology’s impact on health care. iHealthBeat is part of the California HealthCare Foundation’s commitment to important issues affecting health care policy, delivery and financing.

5. Fierce Mobile Health Care

Fierce Mobile Health Care offers groundbreaking mobile content news on the latest in mobile marketing, mobile entertainment, mobile advertising, mobile web, and more. Find the latest IT wireless news on wireless technology advancements, new mobile devices, wireless security updates, and other mobile IT developments.

6. mHealth Insight - A 3GDoctor Blog

3GDoctor is an independent weblog written, edited and published by a group of MDs and biomed engineers. The intended audience is medical professionals looking for the latest updates in the world of medical technology, but it still a great site to read if you’re a patient because it’s a sneak peak into a physician’s perspective. Originally 3G Doctor offered UK and Irish public Mobile Video Consultations with informed registered doctors, but now it’s a leading resource for mobile health news.

7. The Health 2.o News

Previously moved from Health 2.0 blog, Health2News provides up-to-the-minute reports on new advances in medical technology and its impact on patient lifestyle and health care systems. Health2News always features exclusive interviews with key industry leaders. You can find a plethora of discussions on the convergence between patients and the health care organizations.

8. MedGadget.com

This online journal of emerging technologies is edited and published by a group of medical doctors and biomedical engineers. Although this is written for medical professionals, anyone interested in the latest medical technology news is encouraged to read their news too.

9. mHealth Update

If you’re interested in skimming recent mobile health headlines, mHealth Update is a great resource. Their succinct mHealth updates from around the world will give you a thorough understanding on the global impact of mobile health technology.

10. Health Care IT News - Mobile

Healthcare IT News is the industry’s only newspaper, reaching more than 54,000 subscribers. We love their mobile health section because they always provide the most thorough evaluation of mobile health solutions on the market today.

If you’re interested in more thorough resources of mobile health news, we strongly recommend reading the following 7 research reports on mobile health technology.

1. Mobile Health 2010  - Pew Research

One of our favorite analysts, Susannah Fox, really shines as the Associate Director of Digital Strategy for the Pew Internet & American Life Project. In partnership with the California Health Care foundation, Fox provides a lot of clarity on the position of mobile health in the United States. This is also one of the few reports providing plenty of statistics on the adoption rates of mobile health apps in the U.S.  If you’re looking for a thorough and surprising investigation on the demographics of mobile health app usage too, this is the report to read.

2. Wireless Health: State of the Industry 2009 Year End – MobiHealth News

Although this report is from 2009, it still proves to be one of the most detailed reports. Every quarter, MobiHealth News publishes a report on the mHealth industry, but any reader can access this one for free. It holds almost the entire wireless health market metrics publicly released in 2009. Wireless Health: State of the Industry 2009 proves to be one of the most in-depth reports on the industry because it features quarter-by-quarter deals charts. This report also can be interpreted like an industry timeline that chronicles much of the high-level action in the mobile health space of 2009.

3. Amplifying the Impact: Examining the Intersection of Mobile Health and Mobile Finance

A discussion guide for collaborative insight presented by the World Economic Forum, in partnership with the mHealth Alliance. The global progress of mobile health is generally neglected when discussing mHealth technology because we hastily assume the advancement of mHealth technology is only in the U.S.  However, this report guarantees to expand your understanding of the opportunities mobile health brings around the world. It provides an ample amount of insights and statistics from global health leaders and global mHealth statistics.

4. The Connected Patient: Charting the Vital Signs of Remote Health Monitoring - by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, M.A., M.H.S.A., published by the California Health Care Foundation

In this February 2011 report Jane Sarasohn-Kahn again shows off her famous journalistic skills with an exclusive collection of interviews with the American Telemedicine Association’s Jonathan Linkous, Intel Fellow Eric Dishman, MedApps’ Kent Dicks and many more.  Readers interested in remote patient monitoring will this succinct report very satisfying.

5. mHealth Report 2011  - Mobile Storm

MobileStorm provides a comprehensive analysis of the mobile healthcare technology trends and innovations in 2011. Topics include mobile health monitoring, telemedicine, mobile medical equipment, RFID, health & fitness applications, secure mobile messaging, electronic medical records (EMRs), social health communities, smart-phone applications, personal health records (PHRs) and much more.

6. Kaiser Pemanente eHealth Snapshot of Mobile Technology: Smart Tools to Increase Participation in Health Coverage

This recent March 2011 Kaiser Permanente report was conducted with the Children’s Partnership. It evaluates the different mobile health tools and strategies most popular, including text messages and smart phone apps, which can be used to advance coverage goals.  This report especially concentrates on pragmatic solutions mobile health brings for health care coverage in underserved communities because they have less access broadband Internet at home. This report also highlights the opportunity of applying for and renewing health care coverage via mobile health technology. So, for those who don’t have the privilege of submitting forms, paying premiums, and more online, can do so through mobile health. Kaiser and the Children’s Partnership provide a premium examination on the progress and challenges mobile health potential. Not only do they address how to maximizing the potential of mobile health technology, this report addresses and suggests key changes in the U.S. health care policy.

7. Institute for the Future’s Booting Up Mobile Health: From Medical Mainframe to Distributed Intelligence

Instead of concentrating on mobile health through cell phone use, this May 2009 IFTF report includes a wider perspective on mobile health technology. It sheds light on all the technological advances in mobile health technology and how it has transformed our lifestyle from general health care treatment to patient wellbeing.

8. mHealth for Development: The Opportunity of Mobile Technology for Healthcare in the Developing World, published by the United Nations Foundation

This is another report that does not neglect the global impact of mobile health technology. According to U.N. F. this report evaluates issues at the heart mHealth technology and rapid connection between mobile phones and healthcare. U.N.F. notes, “It helps the reader to understand mHealth’s scope and implementation across developing regions, the health needs to which mHealth can be applied, and the mHealth applications that promise the greatest impact on heath care initiatives.”

The mobile health tsunami is growing and it’s going to wipe the previous way we have managed our health care. There will be a strong disparity in the way mobile health technology is used today compared to five or ten years from now. It’s important to stay informed in order to request the best type of care you can from your health care provider. And it’s important to be informed in order to have access to the consumer-friendly mobile health tools available at your fingertips. We hope this list of mobile health news resources and reports not only keeps you up-to-date, but it empowers you too!

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