Benefits of Mobile Phone HealthChina is a rapidly emerging market for mobile healthcare (mHealth) largely in part due to the large percentage of the population who owns a mobile phone and have access to the Internet. In 2014 as many as 97% of adults in China owned a cell phone and 55% owned a smartphone. 5 Apps, such as "Chunyu Yishen," have well over 30 million active users and 400,000 online doctors. 3 mHealth allows for hospital knowledge to transcend the physical structures and urban areas. Patients can access preventative care as well as diagnostic services regardless of their location or distance to a hospital. mHealth can also push public health messages to large populations or into areas where there is an increased risk for a specific condition. If a medical need or question arises, for instance if you cut your finger off, you can quickly and easily pick up the phone and ask a doctor if some super glue will work to re-attach it. 3
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mHealth - Individuals and Patients
Information and Self-Help• Respect for cultural views related to health care
• Apps such as “Medicine Link”, a Chinese mobile information service for safe drug usage and healthy lifestyle 1 • Reminders for appointments or taking medication 6 • Reminders from public health sources about community risk or caution 1 |
Primary Care• Video consultation with doctor regarless of hukou 1,2
• Rural individuals have access to specialists in urban areas • Pictures and videos easily shared for assistance in diagnosis 3 • Smartphone app, Chunyu Yishen, allows remote consulting with health care 3, 6 |
Emergency Care and Response• Rapid communication during natural disasters such as Wenchuan earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province in 2008 1
• Rapid access to doctors and medical information from many miles away |
Management of Long Term Conditions• Apps to track and monitor health statistics
• Data collection to share with health care workers 4,6 • Reminders for medication for long term needs 6 |
mHealth - Providers
Primary Care• Consultations with patients over phone or video 3,4
• Diagnosis using smartphone to send images or use video to exam affected areas 1, 3, 4 • Use of smartphones to collect vital statistics (blood pressure, O2 stats, heart rate, etc) 4 |
Management of Long Term Conditions • Monitoring patients health through apps 4, 6
• Monitor medication compliance 4, 6 • Check-up on patients after leaving health center |
Diagnostic Capability
One mobile health application developed by Dr. Bryan F. Shaw called White Eye Detector that is able to detect leukocoria (white-eye reflection) (a condition that can be caused by cancer) in children using the phones camera. There have been cases of this application catching this condition when it was missed at a normal doctor’s appointment. If leukocoria is caught early it can be treated with lasers and may not have to undergo chemotherapy.
1 Sansom, Robert, Simon Sherrington, Danny Dicks, Nick Gray, Dr, and Tao-Tao Chang. "Mobile Communications For Medical Care." (2011): n. pag.University of Cambridge Center for Science and Policy. 21 Apr. 2011. Web. <http://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/media/uploads/files/1/mobile-communications-for-medical-care.pdf>.
2 Sun, Meiping. "The Potential Causal Effect of Hukou on Health among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China." (2015): 1-30. Columbia University. Web.
3 Bischoff, Paul. "Doctor Consultation App Gets China’s Biggest Ever Investment in a Healthcare Startup." Tech in Asia. N.p., 19 Aug. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2016. <https://www.techinasia.com/doctor-consultation-app-chinas-biggest-investment-healthcare-startup>.
4 BrookingsInstitution. "Use of Mobile Technology to Improve Health Care, Reduce Costs in China and the U.S." YouTube. YouTube, 14 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MMjBJ1dXN4>.
5 Radcliffe, Damian. "What Pew's New Global Attitudes Research Means for Digital Health Providers." Nuviun Content Library. N.p., 9 Apr. 2015. Web. 30 Apr. 2016. <http://nuviun.com/content/what-Pews-new-global-attitudes-research-means-for-digital-health-providers>.
6 Xiaohui, Yu, and Han Han. "MHealth in China and the United States: How Mobile Technology Is Transforming Health Care in the World's Two Largest Economies." The Brookings Institution. N.p., 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2016. <http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2014/03/12-mhealth-china-united-states-mobile-technology-health-care>.
2 Sun, Meiping. "The Potential Causal Effect of Hukou on Health among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China." (2015): 1-30. Columbia University. Web.
3 Bischoff, Paul. "Doctor Consultation App Gets China’s Biggest Ever Investment in a Healthcare Startup." Tech in Asia. N.p., 19 Aug. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2016. <https://www.techinasia.com/doctor-consultation-app-chinas-biggest-investment-healthcare-startup>.
4 BrookingsInstitution. "Use of Mobile Technology to Improve Health Care, Reduce Costs in China and the U.S." YouTube. YouTube, 14 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MMjBJ1dXN4>.
5 Radcliffe, Damian. "What Pew's New Global Attitudes Research Means for Digital Health Providers." Nuviun Content Library. N.p., 9 Apr. 2015. Web. 30 Apr. 2016. <http://nuviun.com/content/what-Pews-new-global-attitudes-research-means-for-digital-health-providers>.
6 Xiaohui, Yu, and Han Han. "MHealth in China and the United States: How Mobile Technology Is Transforming Health Care in the World's Two Largest Economies." The Brookings Institution. N.p., 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2016. <http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2014/03/12-mhealth-china-united-states-mobile-technology-health-care>.
Image References:
https://www.techinasia.com/doctor-consultation-app-chinas-biggest-investment-healthcare-startup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EOq80kV39k
http://www.chinesemedicalnews.com/2015/06/mobile-healthcare-in-china-all-you-need.html
https://www.techinasia.com/doctor-consultation-app-chinas-biggest-investment-healthcare-startup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EOq80kV39k
http://www.chinesemedicalnews.com/2015/06/mobile-healthcare-in-china-all-you-need.html