Mobile technology will take a prominent place in the new more digital infrastructure.
Experts are predicting that mhealth will be one of the most important ways in which the healthcare infrastructure will be changing over the next few years.
This involves the use of smartphones, tablets, and other connected devices as medical resources.
The founder of The Digital Health Center, David Lee Scher, MD, has said that the current resources that are in place will be placed under a great deal of strain when the health care reforms are put into place. Therefore, new tools and resources using digital devices that are readily available to consumers and doctors alike will help to ease some of that pressure.
Some mhealth programs are already starting to make their way into the industry.
Various mobile technology programs, such as telemedicine – which links patients to their medical providers by way of their telephones, computers, smartphones, and tablets – allow some people to receive care without having to line up in doctors’ offices and emergency rooms.
According to Scher, “It would be much easier to provide public service announcements which include how to download an app to enroll or obtain information on benefits than to hire thousands of customer service representatives creating countless hours of telephone waiting time and the purchase of streamed music for the wait.”
He believes that this type of service can make it much easier for patients to receive care, as well as for providers of Medicaid to communicate with their newest enrollees. Moreover, he pointed out that the analytics and data tracking that are available and that will be required for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and other providers to be able to adopt payments based on bundling and outcomes.
He also underscored the fact that mhealth tools can assist in the ability to monitor patients on an ongoing basis, obtain detailed supply data, and gauge provider performance, in addition to being able to streamline the reimbursement process, obtain ratings of providers and facilities, as well as many other features.
In fact, it is Scher’s belief that the ever rising demand for mhealth will cause the regulatory processes to become more industry friendly, and could even result in processes for the unique regulation of mobile health tools and resources.