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Mobile healthcare or mHeath is a term that refers to all aspects of medical care and communications that incorporate the use of mobile computing devices such as cell phones, smart phones, laptops, tablet computers, and PDAs. Mobile communications are quick, reliable, inexpensive, and can be executed in a way that is HIPAA compliant. Because of favorable cost-savings and reliability, mHealth is being embraced as a business solution that saves time and money for healthcare providers and consumers.
The High Cost of Business As Usual
Excess costs in healthcare spending have to be eliminated in order for healthcare companies and consumers to save money. According to the California Healthcare Foundation (2013), healthcare spending in 2011 cost the US $2.7 trillion (17.9 percent of the GDP). Cost per person averaged $8,680. A report issued by McKinsey & Company (2008) stated that of the $2.1 trillion spent on healthcare in 2011, about $650 billion represented excess costs. Two-thirds of this excess spending ($436 billion), was attributed to the costs of outpatient care (including doctors’ office visits and same day procedures). These figures are a red flag that tells every healthcare company that outpatient care is a fertile starting-point for the initiation of cost-saving measures.
mHealth Benefits Healthcare Firms
Remote patient communication saves time and money for healthcare providers and consumers by reducing the need for routine follow-up visits for information exchanges between doctors and patients that do not require hands-on evaluation. For instance, routine follow-up doctors’ visits require a host of time and labor intensive steps from scheduling to the time spent actually talking with the doctor. Every encounter is a cost that increases overhead expenses. Increased overhead expenses decreases profits. The beauty of mHealth is that it allows you to achieve the desired goals of communication and physician access within seconds, and at a fraction of the cost of a face-to-face encounter.
HIPAA compliant text messaging is a quick, inexpensive, and reliable means of communication. It is better than phone conversations via landlines, because they increase your ability to actually reach the patient in a timely manner. Cell phones are portable, ubiquitous, trusted, relied upon, and nearby. Text messages are more quickly received than email or traditional mail. Increased, efficiency in relaying information to patients frees-up time that can be used to accommodate emergency office visits and cases that legitimately need more hands-on time.
How mHealth Benefits Healthcare Consumers
Face-to-face doctors’ visits cost patients in a way that is rarely considered by healthcare providers. These costs are not negligible for patients. Remote healthcare communications saves patients time and cost of transportation and doctors’ office visits. Patients who don’t live near their providers can spend an hour or longer getting to and from the office. The cost of time lost from work, gas, parking, babysitters, and even bus fares is not negligible.
Physicians might be tempted to worry that leveraging mobile communications might cause patients to feel short-changed. But, a recent study published by the American Academy of Family Physicians found that patients value access and communication with their physicians. By increasing access and communications with their providers, mHealth succeeds in achieving what patients value most.
Healthcare providers might feel overwhelmed by the level of sophistication involved in mobile communications. The good news is that mHealth is not a do-it-yourself arena. Cloud-based remote patient engagement software, such as that provided by GoMo Health is a HIPAA compliant, affordable, and scalable way for healthcare firms to successfully manage their mHealth initiatives.
Conclusion
The need to cut the high cost of inefficient healthcare is the concern of every healthcare practitioner. By streamlining the use of face-to-face office visits, HIPAA compliant mHealth practices allow healthcare providers to save time and money while increasing patient communications with and access to their healthcare providers.
References
Accounting for the Cost of US Health Care: A New Look at Why Americans Spend More
Patients Value Physician Access, Communication Offered in PCMH Model
