mHealth: What's here and what's next

Jonathan Dreyer

According to Manhattan Research, the use of tablets among doctors doubled in 2012.  Given the dramatic rise of mobile technology in medicine, it's no surprise that "experience enhancing" technologies for these mobile devices and apps are also being introduced at a rapid pace.

I'm excited about an upcoming opportunity to discuss this very topic during a panel session at the mHealth Summit on Monday, Dec. 3, at 2:45 p.m. ET, titled mHealth Tech Innovation: What's Here and What's Next?  During this session, various leaders on the forefront of mHealth innovation including -- Will Yu, founder of the Foundation for Healthcare Innovation; Brian Gardner, executive director of Kaiser Permanente; Peter Hudson, CEO and co-founder of iTriage; Alan Snell, CMIO of St. Vincent Health; and Arthur Lane, marketing manager for Verizon Wireless -- will share their thoughts on where mHealth is today and where it's headed.

Challenges with mobile medicine

Today, mobile electronic medical record (EMR) systems are on the rise, and the pervasiveness of other point-of-care documentation apps, resource tools, mobile communication platforms, disease management solutions and education programs is evolving at an ever-increasing rate.

While mHealth apps undoubtedly deliver on the promise of convenience, portability and real-time access to valuable clinical information for clinicians, a few key usability challenges exist -- most notably, diminutive keyboards and limited screen "real estate."  The average physician types 40 words per minute on a desktop, and one could easily argue that this number significantly drops as device size decreases. The continued focus on making mobile devices more compact means keyboards, both on-screen and removable physical hardware, will remain the "Achilles Heel" for mobile devices.  What's more, tapping through menus and hunting for information on a four-inch screen can be particularly time-consuming and cumbersome for clinicians if developers fail to design apps that easily fit into the healthcare workflow.

Simplifying the mobile experience

"Experience enhancing" technologies, such as medical speech recognition, digital assistants and natural language processing engines, promise to help clinicians address these mobile challenges and are already making their way into apps for general practitioners and specialists alike. These technologies address issues associated with mobile usability and offer efficiency and productivity gains, hands-free documentation and targeted information retrieval, as well as structured, codified data creation on the go.

Today, a number of mHealth apps offer interfaces that clinicians can use to conduct question-and-answer interactions through natural commands and perform directed actions using their voice. For example, a physician may "ask" his or her mobile EMR: "What's my schedule for today?" or "What are the patient's vitals?"  Furthermore, that same physician may also "ask" his or her mHealth app to perform a directed action: "Show me my next patient's record" or "Schedule a follow-up for next Monday."  

But that's just the beginning.

In the near future, mHealth apps will move beyond simple question-and-answer retrieval and directed actions and have "conversations" with clinicians and discern more complex intentions. As such, we are likely to see the rise of "digital assistants" in healthcare.  We've already seen these intelligent, voice-driven helpers permeate the consumer market, so it's only a matter of time before they impact healthcare. 

Here is what one of these interactions may sound like:

Physician: Please schedule an exam for Mary Smith next week.

mHealth App: There is availability on Thursday at 3 p.m. and Friday at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.  Which would you like?

Physician: The one on Friday morning.

mHealth App: OK, I'll schedule the appointment for 9 a.m. next Friday.  Can I help you with anything else?

In the not-too-distant future, mHealth apps will also be able to understand and offer more intelligent approaches to clinical content and information retrieval. For instance, a physician may ask and receive validated clinical content to guide care simply by asking a mobile app, "How do I interpret Hepatitis B serology?" As new "experience enhancing" technologies enter the mHealth market at a rapid pace, additional layers of intelligence will be added to further simplify and enhance the clinician's interaction with mobile technology.

mHealth in action

In addition to being eager to discuss mHealth innovation at next week's conference, I'm especially looking forward to attending the sessions listed below. If you're attending the mHealth Summit next week, what sessions are a must-see in your opinion? Please share your thoughts in the comments below, tweet me at @JonathonDreyer or stop me in the hall at the mHealth Summit.

• Care Models in Motion: Challenges, Disruptions, & Innovations (Monday, Dec. 3, 10:30-11:30 a.m.)
• Pushing the Limits of Mobile Health - Can We Have Health & Healthcare Without Doctors? (Tuesday, Dec. 4, 10-10:45 a.m.)
• BYOD: Now Please Make It Work (Wednesday, Dec. 5, 10:10-11:25 a.m.)

Jonathon Dreyer is the director of mobile solutions marketing at Nuance Healthcare.