Mobile phones revolutionizing health care
Manila, Philippines - The growing sophistication of mobile networks offering affordable and higher speeds of data transmission alongside cheaper and more powerful devices is transforming the way health care services and information are accessed, delivered, and managed.
In the Philippines, Smart Communications, Inc. is currently the only telco that has invested in mobile health, or mHealth, harnessing the Internet and mobile technologies to carry out programs under its Kabalikat sa Kalusugan corporate initiative.
mHealth refers to the practice of medicine and public health, supported by wireless communication devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers. It links patients to services, which include health information on demand, record management, and the remote, real-time monitoring of conditions and even life-threatening ailments.
The flagship of Smart’s mHealth efforts is Project SHINE (Secured Health Information Network and Exchange). Designed to promote efficiency, it enables health facilities and professionals to create electronic medical records, send electronic referrals to other health facilities, generate report, and send reminders to patients. The cloud-based service can be accessed via web or mobile.
SHINE was recently recognized at the Asia Communication Awards in Singapore as the Best Emerging Market Initiative.
In partnership with the Physicians for Peace-Philippines (PfP), Smart has also deployed a mobile and web application that allows doctors to provide real-time evaluation and advice on prosthesis use for amputees in far-flung communities. It is called Amputee Screening via CEllphone NeTworking (ASCENT).
A similar application, OpSmile Mobile, was launched late last year for Operation Smile. It will be used for patient profiling of potential beneficiaries of Operation Smile medical missions.
Another initiative is the Mobile Surgery Services Project of the Mindanao Consortium of Surgeons and the Misamis Oriental provincial government. Following an initial one-year free Internet access provided by Smart to provincial hospitals in various towns, resident doctors now consult specialists online, via a webcam and free Windows-based video chat and video conferencing application called ooVoo.
Patients from these towns no longer have to travel to consult specialists based in Cagayan de Oro City or even Metro Manila, while doctors get a more accurate patient profile preparatory to medical missions to these areas.
In Tarlac, records keeping has gone paperless, with patients’ personal and medical data directly keyed in to the clinic database using computers, mobile phones, and Smart’s Internet service, thanks to Wireless Access for Health (WAH). This project is led by Qualcomm, the Department of Health, Tarlac provincial government, Tarlac State University, USAID, and Research Triangle Institute (RTI) with Smart as the telco partner.
Rural health clinics are equipped with netbooks and wireless broadband connectivity to support the computerization of patients’ medical records using a system for barangay health centers and the transmission of vital information to health authorities. Internet mobile phones will also be deployed for testing in barangay health centers for data gathering.
In a report, former Socio Economic Planning Secretary Cayetano Paderanga Jr. said that one of the biggest challenges to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in health is the limited access to health information and services, especially among the poor.
Many governments are already looking at mHealth as a complementary strategy for strengthening health systems and achieving the health care delivery, particularly in poor and developing countries.
Mobile devices have bypassed conventional telephony systems, allowing people to communicate across vast geographical distances. This is all the more crucial for far-flung, underserved communities where these devices are sometimes the only means of sharing information.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) estimates there are now over five billion wireless subscribers and over 70 percent of them reside in low- and middle-income countries. The GSM Association says commercial wireless signals now cover over 85 percent of the world’s population, in most cases extending beyond the reach of roads and electrical grids.
In the Philippines, mobile phone penetration rate is seen approaching 100 percent in the second half of the year, pushed by increasing mobile data consumption and the availability of more smartphone handsets in the market.
