The Impact of Mobile Devices on Health CareThe Impact of Mobile Devices on Health Care

•A general cardiologist with Cedars-Sinai Medical Group, Dr. Raj Khandwalla assists critically ill individuals, runs full-service cardiac imaging devices, and offers guidance on preventive medicine. During his spare time, Dr. Raj Khandwalla enjoys learning about how mobile devices are influencing health care.

•The widespread implementation and accessibility of mobile devices has changed the world and how we deliver and receive information. Health care has also been impacted by these changes as mobile health, or mHealth, applications purport to aid patients and doctors through increased communication, data sharing, and guidance about healthy living. Additionally, medical professionals can use these to better manage their office.

•PLOS Medicine published the article “The Effectiveness of Mobile-Health Technologies to Improve Health Care Service Delivery Processes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” in the January 2013 issue. The researchers evaluated 42 previously published studies into mobile technology-based health interventions and compiled the data. Their conclusions showed mixed and modestly positive results as to the effectiveness of many of these devices. Alerting people about upcoming appointments through texts proved mildly beneficial but did not lead to a significant increase in visits when compared to phone calls or mailers. Despite the use of SMS reminders, people who regularly missed appointments generally continued not to call and cancel beforehand. Additionally, mobile-based photographs used for diagnostic purposes had an overall negative impact. However, the researchers noted the lack of high-quality studies available into this subject and recommended evaluations be performed in resource-limited and high-income areas.