The Future Of Healthcare Via Smartphone’s: Mobile Health Care Anyone?

The mobile phone has brought about a lot of changes. First it changed the way we communicate with others over telephones. It made the office wireless. Then with the waves of smart-phones launched, it added more and more functionality to the device. With always on 3G, Wireless Sensors, and Cameras added to the mobile phone, it began to get a lot of other uses. Mobiles began to be used for E-Commerce and have now become a separate branch called M-Commerce. They changed digital photography and videography.

They changed the way Social Networks operate. They even changed the way we spend our spare time, with a myriad of apps and games available on most smartphone platforms. Mobile phones have another use-case: Mobile Health Care.

The average person visits his doctor once or maybe twice a year for a general checkup. At that time, his doctor examines his Blood Pressure, Heart Rate and other variables. If, during the year, his heart rate was abnormal, the doctor has no way of knowing. This is a severe limitation as the doctor cannot predict patterns over a period of time. Some phones like Apple’s iPhones already have the ability to take on this role of Remote Monitoring. In the Future of Mobile Health Care, the patient simply has to wear a dedicated Monitor. It will keep track of the parameter, be it BP, heart rate or even Blood Sugar Level. It will keep track of the parameter 24×7 and email it to the doctor via the patient’s smartphone. When the patient visits the doctor next, he immediately has a graph of the patient’s statistics throughout the year. This is a boon to both patient and doctor.

As with all technology, the initial price is always prohibitively high. When it is mass produced and widely available, the price comes down exponentially. For example, just ten years ago, getting a complete Human Genome sequence done would cost you $1Billion. Now, the same can be done for $5000.

Another way Mobile Phones, especially smart-phones can help the masses keep track of and understand their heath is a service called WebMD. On WebMD, one can get their common queries answered and even find possible causes to their symptoms. WebMD has apps available for most smart phone platforms and with Android devices having hit the sub-Rs. 5000 mark now, it is available to a large number of people.

Can the Mobile Phone bring about changes to healthcare in India? Do let us know in the comments below.