Wireless Medical Blog
Will Smart Phones disrupt the telehealth market?
By Vaishali Kamat - Last updated: Tuesday, June 22, 2010At latest count there were almost 6000 health apps for smart phones, with the iPhone leading the pack but Android based phones quickly catching up. An increasing number of physicians are now using smart phones to access medical information. The newly launched iPad has gained significant following and has even made it into hospitals as a potential platform for bedside access to patient data and other hospital IT infrastructure. The competition is heating up with the recent announcement of a smaller tablet from Dell.
Although tablets and PDAs have been used in the clinical environment for several years, the buzz created recently by the iPhone is quite impressive. I attribute this mostly to the fantastic user interface and the abundance of applications available to help clinicians be more efficient in their jobs. This serves as another confirmation that a device or service which makes life easier can become successful among even the most conservative and non-techie audience.
The question this brings to mind is whether the same devices can become “personal” health hubs for the population at large? Will a well designed smart phone or tablet become the best platform for rapid deployment of Connected Health solutions? Can users, enticed by these “cool” gadgets, be motivated to monitor and track their health data?
There has been rapid evolution along these lines with developments in several key areas in the past few months. Viable commercial cases and business models are beginning to emerge as health insurance companies start recognizing the benefits of engaging consumers and driving them toward healthy habbits using friendly tools. The uncertain regulatory landscape has led to formation of the mHealth Regulatory Coalition, which aims to address the question regarding the FDA’s role and will hopefully clarify the regulatory approach for the use of mobile phones for health applications. Finally, low cost, standards based technical solutions are becoming available to support data transmission from monitoring devices via mobile phones.
This brings me to the key question of the day –
Will consumer oriented devices, (e.g. Smart Phones), bring about disruption in telehealth – a market which has traditionally revolved around expensive & dedicated “telehealth hubs”?
I welcome your thoughts on this very interesting and evolving ecosystem.
Comments:
James Foxlee Said,
August 26, 2010 @ 10:48 am
No, the FDA and other regulators are going to clamp down hard. There are already case reports of adverse events related to medical apps and this link http://www.fiercemobilehealthcare.com/story/fda-fcc-discuss-medical-smartphone-apps-industry-adjusts-regulatory-culture/2010-07-27 should shet some light.
If it transmits medical data, and the patient or clinician can act on that data (potentially causing harm if there is a system error) then it is a medical device, or at the least a medical device accessory. In which case it needs to be developed as a medical device and the Code of Federal Regulations and countless others will come into play.
Rob Havasy Said,
June 22, 2010 @ 7:03 pm
I would have said yes – until last week. Once AT&T and Verizon announced the end of unlimited data plans, I believe they’ve effectively killed much of the smartphone’s potential to disrupt. Now I think the balance has shifted again to dedicated devices (perhaps still wireless) not subject to the variable costs of tiered consumer data plans.
Now my money’s on dedicated devices with embedded cellular connectivity. At least until the carriers inevitably reverse course and re-introduce an unlimited smartphone data offering.