1 mHealth will begin to supersede eHealth 2 the Personal mHR will begin to replace eHR 3 the Health Web Bubble won’t happen 4 OLPC interest will shift to OMPC (One Mobile Per Child). 5 SmartHome and Body Area Network initiatives will disappoint and focus will shift to mHome and Pervasive mTechnologies. 6 A scientific paper will prove a mFitness application can offer greater Health benefits than regular gym use. 7 Mobile Network Operators will start promoting Healthcare uses for Smartphones 8 A 3G Video Calling service will be launched to serve patients in need of Medical Emergency Assistance. 9 mHealth will drive the next phase of hardware convergence Slide Text in Full... mHealth Predictions 2009 David Doherty, Business Development, 3G Doctor 1 mHealth will begin to supersede eHealth eHealth is a term used to cover a wide plethora of digitalization of health. However the vast majority of eHealth initiatives to date have involved basic administration tasks eg. converting paper written records and communications into digital communications. Whilst there is no doubt these conversions of our antique health information systems will continue to deliver enormous cost savings (as much as $30 Billion annually in the U.S. healthcare system) in 2009 this will become seen to be expected as efficient business practice and not eHealth. When a 2008 Kings Fund Report reveals that unhealthy behavior is costing the UK’s NHS £6 Billion a year it’s time to identify what digital technologies can and can’t do to drive health benefits and begin to target patients who can benefit. The pervasive ownership levels and the power of mobiles to engage patients will propel the growth of connected healthcare faster than any economic or policy decisions, and whilst Chronic Care makes up the majority of healthcare spend it may not be the safest area in which to deploy transformative technologies or to make healthcare cost savings. In 2009 the medical industry will begin to realize that patients can benefiting from mHealth in ways not possible with eHealth because; > Mobiles can offer unrivaled levels of ownership, accessibility and secure identity management. > the type of Healthcare problems that can benefit most from digital intervention are those that require brief engagement, are unplanned, may take place at anytime or anywhere, are long term and can benefit from persuasion & motivation. Only a mobile device has the potential to serve these needs with the necessary privacy, discretion and personalization. > Because mHealth doesn’t have the confines of episodical event based interaction it can throw aside legacy healthcare applications from the desktop era and deliver magic through use of Smartphone technologies such as Video, 24/7 Feedback, games & applications, Bluetooth, NFC, QR codes, GPS etc. 2 the Personal mHR will begin to replace eHR With >27% of US adults thinking about creating a Health Record the opportunity for personal Mobile Health Records to take a small slice of this will be the start of something big, particularly now that Nokia has become the worlds largest computer manufacturer. The take up will languish until the healthcare industry becomes aware that a mHR is not just an eHR contained on a small and convenient mobile phone but an eHR that has enhanced features that include: > Ownership – enabling patients to be in charge of their own care which also leads to more active role management and maintenance. A one stop shop through which they can create, manage and update (automatically in some instances) and retrievable even in the event of loss/theft. > Privacy in the event of loss (as it can be remotely stored and retrieved only via secure processes). > always carried (fundamental to digital identity management best practice) > Personalization – and engagement > as the only platform that can empower efficient health monitoring > as the only platform tha