From The Editor | April 19, 2012

Vive La Mobile Revolution!

Ken Congdon, Editor In Chief of Health IT Outcomes

By Ken Congdon, editor in chief, Health IT Outcomes

The current landscape of healthcare IT is one largely dominated by the almighty quest for EHR adoption and Meaningful Use. This coordinated IT initiative has been orchestrated by the federal government via a series of Meaningful Use requirements and corresponding stimulus payments. The ultimate goal of this massive EHR effort is admirable — a unified patient record, streamlined data exchange, lower healthcare costs, and improved patient care.

However, an unfortunate side effect of the EHR movement is that the fact that most implementations are extremely demanding, causing several healthcare facilities to put other IT projects on hold. Yet, one technology initiative continues to gain momentum in this EHR-centered world, and it is doing so on its own steam — without government incentives. Some call it enterprise mobility, others call it mHealth, but I like to refer to it as The Mobile Health Revolution. The Mobile Health Revolution consists of a wide variety of technologies (e.g. mobile computers, tablets, smartphones, telehealth solutions, remote patient monitoring solutions, etc.) designed to not only make clinicians more productive, but also fundamentally change the practice of medicine by erasing boundaries between patients and providers. The Mobile Health Revolution is poised to forever impact patient care, but what is driving this trend? Upon closer examination, one can see that several factors are making the market ripe for mobility:

  • Demographics: Baby Boomers are now becoming senior citizens, causing chronic disease levels to rise throughout the United States. Chronic diseases are typically very expensive to manage over the long term, and healthcare facilities are turning to mobile technologies such as telehealth and remote monitoring devices as a way to continuously manage patient conditions without the need for incessant office visits.
  • Healthcare Reform: With healthcare reform set to provide universal health coverage, nearly 50 million currently uninsured Americans will soon infiltrate the U.S. healthcare system. There are currently an insufficient number of clinicians to address these growing demands, and physicians are leveraging mobile computers, smartphones, and telehealth as a way to make themselves more productive and treat more patients on a daily basis.
  • The Rise Of EHRs: While EHR adoption may have impeded the progress of other health IT initiatives, it seems to have helped propel mobility investments. The reason? EHRs are causing more and more hospital information to be stored electronically, and clinicians are clamoring for quick and convenient ways to access this information so their workflows aren’t disrupted. Notebooks, tablets, handhelds, smartphones, and mobile workstations are sought after ways in which to provide this capability.

The rise of mobile technologies is an important trend in healthcare, and Health IT Outcomes is taking a closer look at this phenomenon with a special online and print peer-to-peer editorial compilation titled, fittingly, The Mobile Health Revolution. In this compilation, we chronicle how several leading healthcare facilities are leveraging a wide array of mobile technologies to improve hospital operations and patient care. The first article from this compilation, The Many Flavors Of Clinical Mobility, is featured in this week’s newsletter and focuses on how today’s clinicians are leveraging iPads, tablets, notebooks, handhelds, smartphones, and mobile workstations on the job. We’ll highlight other articles from this special editorial series in future newsletters. We hope this content provides you with valuable insight you can apply to your facility, and encourages you to play a bigger part in The Mobile Health Revolution.