New study: The world is ready for mobile healthcare
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
(Barcelona / Oslo - February 28, 2012) Based on the explosive growth in global
mobile phone penetration, a technology revolution is quickly gaining pace in
healthcare. Around the world, healthcare systems are overburdened, costly and
incapable of meeting the needs of a growing population. According to a new study
from The Boston Consulting Group and Telenor Group, mobile health technology can
offer sizeable benefits to all countries, lead to economic growth and promise a
better life for individuals.
Among the key findings:
* The necessary infrastructure is already in everyone's hands: 7.4 billion
mobile subscriptions projected by 2015
* The technology richness and network capacity is sufficient, both on simple
feature phones and on smart devices
* Currently, more than 500 mobile health projects are taking place around the
world
* Costs in elderly care can be reduced by 25% with mobile healthcare
* Maternal and perinatal mortality can be reduced by 30%
* Twice as many rural patients can be reached per doctor
* Tuberculosis treatment compliance can be improved by 30-70%
* 30% of smartphone users are likely to use "wellness apps" by 2015
* Costs related to data collection can be reduced by 24%
* Smartphone is the most popular technology among doctors since the
stethoscope
The study "Socio-Economic Impact of mHealth " - commissioned by Telenor Group
and carried out by The Boston Consulting Group - is a comprehensive survey of
the impact that mHealth initiatives can have in 12 countries. The countries are
grouped into three clusters, each with a different set of primary healthcare
challenges. Where countries in one cluster primarily face challenges with non-
communicable diseases and quickly growing system costs, countries in another
cluster struggle with maternal/child health, communicable diseases and limited
access to health care. What unites them all is that mobile health technology can
improve the quality, reach and effectiveness of services while reducing costs
and the overall system burden.
Telenor Group has launched a number of mobile health initiatives across its
markets. In Norway, an assisted living project helps the elderly stay longer at
home through mobile alarm systems. In Thailand, a mobile text messaging service
provides epidemic surveillance. In Bangladesh and Pakistan, a service called
Healthline provides patients with a simple number to dial for both serious and
non-serious medical needs. In India, mothers can obtain critical information
about prenatal health via their phones. In Montenegro, a joint project with the
EU provides a service for remotely located elderly people, enabled by one touch
on a button on their mobile handset. In Serbia, mobile health technology is used
to increase the quality of medical registration and reporting for the Roma
community.
Action is needed
"Mobile health is already a reality, with hundreds of projects launched
worldwide. However, many projects are struggling with achieving scale. Both
regulatory actions and ecosystem collaboration is required to create the
necessary scale. We need to commit to common standards, increase access to
mobile services and document the impact of mobile health. Finally,
Governments can use their procurement processes to drive further innovation in
mobile health services," says Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO, Telenor
Group.
"The technological development and successful pilots around the world
demonstrate that the time for mHealth has come. Accelerating adoption will
require orchestrating multiple stakeholders, including the alignment of
incentives for healthcare professionals to adopt mHealth," says Knut Haanæs,
Global Leader, Sustainability Practice, The Boston Consulting Group.
About the study
The study identifies the main healthcare challenges in each study country, and
estimates the potential benefits over the next decade of large-scale mHealth
solutions being made available, leveraging the best evidence available on
mHealth pilots to date. It also examines the roles stakeholders need to play to
help make this a reality.
Contact information:
Tor Odland, Vice President, Group Communications, Telenor Group
Mobile: +47 9909 0872,
E-mail: tor.odland(at)telenor.com
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originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Telenor via Thomson Reuters ONE
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Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 28.02.2012 - 11:15 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 119237
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