What is mHealth and why is it important to the healthcare industry?
Mobile Health, also known as mHealth, refers to the use of mobile devices (tablets, mobile phones, monitoring devices, etc.) to manage health, covering the different phases that affect patients: prevention, management, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.
The mHealth is part of the digital health ecosystem, eHealth, so it is an element of great importance to take into account by those brands in the health sector.
Today, we live with the rapid growth of information and communication technology, and we can observe its permanence and improvement since the Covid-19 pandemic. The eHealth sector is also in a growth phase that parallels the rise of technology. mHealth makes it possible to reach users more directly and allows them to participate more actively in their own health by providing them with tools that help them understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
Currently, many mHealth users connect to available applications through smart devices, such as a smart watch, sensor-enabled sneakers, monitoring bands, and others. Through these devices, real-time data can be collected from the user, allowing for the creation of a record of information and contributing to Big Data.
The use of big data can help to cover the different stages that patients go through, due to the large amount of information that it handles. In this way, patient care services can be perfected and improved, providing greater accuracy and quality.
Among the benefits of mHealth, we can highlight the following:
- Accessibility. Users can easily access various mobile applications without having to go to a hospital, clinic, or medical center. This allows them to view their medical history, get test results, schedule appointments, and more from the comfort of their own home.
- Ease of use. Because mobile applications are similar to what users already know and use, they are easy to use with an intuitive user interface (UI).
- Personalization. Having a digital record of each patient’s medical history allows for a more in-depth understanding of the patient, optimizing consultations and improving diagnoses.
- Speed. Information is updated faster, enabling early detection and prevention, as well as real-time patient follow-up.
Given that users are frequently connected to mobile devices, it is convenient for healthcare companies to take advantage of this opportunity. In this way, they will be able to be present in the daily lives of patients, accompanying them in each of the important phases (prevention, management, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up) and improving their healthcare.
If you are interested in discovering the world of mHealth, we will be happy to help you plan a strategy and discover together the future of healthcare.