Patients and doctors alike are increasingly mobile connected, so it’s no surprise that mobile is considered by many as the next logical area for major innovation in healthcare. With Qatar’s healthcare system continuing to evolve to meet the needs of the country’s growing population, mHealth is one possible component being considered to enhance the quality of care.

Speaking at ictQATAR’s recent Everything Mobile forum Dr. Alistair Erskine, Chief of Health Informatics at Sidra Medical and Research Center and chair of the Information System Committee of Qatar’s Academic Health System, said mHealth may well change the way patients interact with healthcare providers in a radical way.

He said, “In Qatar you are about to experience a major transformation in the healthcare environment. Sidra Medical and Research Center will be a beacon of learning, discovery and exceptional care, ranked among the top academic medical centers in the world. It will be coordinated among all the other healthcare providers in Qatar and it will be mobile.”

However, what do we mean by ‘Mobile Health’, or mHealth? The World Health Authority describes mHealth as ‘Medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other wireless devices’.

There are some obvious and fundamental benefits of mHealth such as the use of toll free numbers for emergencies, appointment reminders and awareness-raising but advancement in mobile technology has also brought incredible and potentially live saving benefits as well. For example, Dr. Erskine highlighted the area of medication compliance, which is ensuring a patient is taking the right amount of medication. This can be particularly important for transplant patients who must take their anti-rejection medication to ensure their vital organ, be it a heart, lung or kidney, is not rejected by the body.

There are new technologies available now that actually include a digestible microchip on the pill itself, which once ingested, sends information to a transmitter , which looks something like a Band Aid attached to the patient’s skin, which then sends compliance information to the doctor about the level of medication in one’s system. The transmitter also monitors heart rate and other physiological markers and transmits this information to the healthcare provider who can then act on it.

Other mobile health innovations include surveillance resulting in early discovery and control of epidemics by simply monitoring the symptoms being looked up on the internet. Now it’s possible to identify flu outbreaks even before they are reported by specific medical facilities simply by tracking what people look up on Google or Tweet about. Mobile also makes it possible to monitor health conditions in real-time from a patient’s home, including diabetic patients’ weight and blood sugar.

Personalized healthcare enabled by mobile is on the way as well, including easy to execute health surveys, mobile telemedicine, mobile surgery and a host of other mobile health benefits. The flow of information between those who provide care and those who receive healthcare will evolve and there will be greater, easier and more efficient sharing of clinical records between joint care givers such as nurses to doctors, to surgeons and chiropractors, all because of mobile.

Qatar is making great strides towards providing a remarkable primary healthcare system and has a national vision pointing the way. Detractors of mHealth point to issues of confidentiality, compliance with policies and law, and cost effectiveness. However the future of healthcare is coming and it will be increasingly mobile.
Watch all of Dr. Erskine’s presentation at Everything Mobile on ictQATAR’s YouTube channel to find out more about what is possible in mHealth.