Friday, November 12, 2010
Mobile Health Care: The next 500 million
At the mHealthSummit in DC last week a study was released claiming that 500 million people will be using mobile health apps by 2015. My first reaction to the headline was "what about people who don't have mobile access?" The article quotes U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra, saying, "It is important for us to knock down bottlenecks and barriers as they come," in reference to cloud computing and increased connectivity. I am curious to see if and how any of these companies that are involved in the innovations in mobile health care (or any other cloud/mobile-related innovations) help close the digital divide, as it would seem to be in their best interest to do so.
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While I understand your concern, I would think that from an economics standpoint, if a mobile health care app can provide the patient the care/info they need in lieu of going to the doctor's office, then I would I think they have a strong incentive to buy a phone capable of accessing these apps. Doctor's office visits in the hundreds of dollars per occurrence versus a one-time smart phone purchase and a nominal fee for the mobile app. If it's a cellular service issue (e.g. for rural populations), then it's a moot point I suppose.
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