MobileActive.org

Providing effective health care in poor countries is an essential component to economic development and poverty reduction. Unfortunately donors supporting this endeavor often find that resources given are not matched by desired gains.

The output-based aid (OBA) model of financing seeks to address this by paying healthcare providers directly for services rendered instead of paying for the service provision up front. However, the program management is information intensive, necessitating much paperwork to track and reimburse payment claims. Smartphones (mobile phones with advanced features) have the potential to alleviate this burden.

Based on recent work in Uganda we have identified some of the constraints and realities of the context in which these devices could improve the quality and speed of payment claims. In collaboration with Marie Stopes International and Microcare, we propose to deploy a number of smartphones for use in the Uganda OBA project, with dual goals of reducing claim processing time and improving communication between the health care providers and the management agency running the OBA project.

This paper presents a development paradigm for Ethiopia, based on appropriate services and innovative use of mobile communications technologies via applications tailored for sectors like business, finance, healthcare, governance, education and infotainment.

The experience of other developing countries like India and Kenya is cited so as to adapt those to the Ethiopian context. Notable application areas in the aforementioned sectors have been outlined. The ETC ‘next generation network’ is taken into consideration, with an emphasis on mobile service offering by the Telco itself and/or third party service providers. In addition, enabling technologies like mobile internet, location-based systems, open interfaces to large telecom networks, specifically service-oriented architecture (SOA), Parlay/JAIN and the like are discussed.

The paper points out possible endeavors by such stakeholders like: telecom agencies and network operators; businesses, government and NGOs; entrepreneurs and innovators; technology companies and professionals; as well as researchers and academic institutions. ICT4D through mobile services and their role in bridging the digital divide by building a virtual ‘network economy’ is discussed.

With the continued expansion of mobile technology around the globe, and the persistent lack of universal Internet connectivity, the use of mobile phones in public health presents a new opportunity to improve health services delivery. This intersection of mobile technology and public health, known as m-health, offers four distinct applications for international development, including drug adherence and remote monitoring, remote dissemination of information, data collection and disease outbreak surveillance, and diagnostic treatment and support.

Several programs have addressed these m-health applications, but those that are most effective utilize open-source coding, are not reliant upon the Internet, and have great potential for scalability.

This report explores the ways in which non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) and
other groups deploy and use mobile
technology in their work to help solve some
of the world’s greatest problems. This study
is not meant to be exhaustive or definitive,
but rather to provide a view into how a
number of organizations are using mobile
technology to achieve social impact. The authors
selected case studies that enabled an
exploration of significant innovations,
opportunities, and emerging trends, as well
as the obstacles, in the use of mobile
technology to advance social goals.

Mounting interest in the field of mHealth—the provision of health-related services via mobile communications—can be traced to the evolution of several interrelated trends. In many parts of the world, epidemics and a shortage of healthcare workers continue to present grave challenges for governments and health providers. Yet in these same places, the explosive growth of mobile communications over the past decade offers a new hope for the promotion of quality healthcare. Among those who had previously been left behind by the ‘digital divide,’ billions now have access to reliable technology. There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the potential of mobile communications to radically improve healthcare services—even in some of the most remote and resource-poor environments.

This report examines issues at the heart of the rapidly evolving intersection of mobile phones and healthcare. It helps the reader to understand mHealth’s scope and implementation across developing regions, the health needs to which mHealth can be applied, and the mHealth applications that promise the greatest impact on heath care initiatives. It also examines building blocks required to make mHealth more widely available through sustainable implementations. Finally, it calls for concerted action to help realize mHealth’s full potential. The report is organized into the following sections:

• 1. Identifying the potential of mobile phones to improve health in the developing world 
• 2. Defining mHealth within the context of eHealth 
• 3. Meeting health needs through a broad array of mHealth applications 
• 4. Examining the impacts of mHealth projects 
• 5 Assessing mHealth and future health needs in developing countries 
• 6. Identifying the building blocks for sustainable and scalable mHealth programs 
• 7. Understanding the incentives for multiple players: mHealth value chains 
• 8. A call for action 
• 9. Looking forward 
• 10. Compendium of mHealth projects

This assessment, commissioned by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in South Africa and implemented by Women's Net, aims to provide baseline data that will inform a a strategy to launch a new generation of cell phone technologies to address underdevelopment and in particular, HIV/AIDS as a development issue. The rapid assessment consists of an assessment that will be used by UNICEF as a baseline to inform and kick start further discussions and strategy development with key stakeholders for the potential scaling up of cell phone technology usage in projects with a development agenda. The long term objective of this activity is to support the government and civil society programs to leverage partnerships with companies developing cell technologies and other related service providers to develop a comprehensive strategy and plan for monitoring treatment adherence, providing information on sexual health including help lines and services and prevention messages by the use of technology.

This presentation provides three examples of mobile projects at the CDC: HIV Testing Centers Via SMS, mobile alerts from the CDC.gov web site, and mobile technology for Diabetes Management. The goals of the talk held during the Texting4Health conference in February 2008 were to share examples, results, and learning as well as to generate questions.

This presentation provides insight into current mobile health initiatives and the current global health landscape. The presentation outlines the Thai system as an example of health informatics in resource poor setting, and introduces areas of global health and SMS application. Rwanda's implementation of TRACnet and public health for monitoring of the national HIV/AIDS program is used as an example. The presentation focuses on developing a framework for mobile computing in global health, including: standardizing Health Metrics (HMN), standardizing approaches, and integrating SSM into broader public health information systems and enterprise health information architecture. The report concludes with a look into SMS applications in emergency response, program monitoring and reporting, and patient monitoring. Key challenges are listed.

This presentation provides an overview of growth of U.S. mobile users and outlines the emergence of mobile healthcare. The review includes mobile healthcare applications and their limitations, with a specific focus on texting. SMS costs and common short codes (CSC's) are also touched upon.. The presentation concludes with examples of SMS campaigns, a summary of the elements of such campaigns. SMS connection aggregators and providers are mentioned. For more detailed information on the emergence of mobile healthcare see Healthcare Unpluggd: The Evolving Role of Wireless technology (2007) available at CHCF.org

This report is based on interviews with more than two dozen researchers, clinicians, and application developers, and on a review of a broad range of published papers and articles, web resources, and other materials.The report begins with an overview of the global wireless revolution in term of who is using the technology and how the technology is evolving. It then describes a variety of wireless health care applications that are currently available or under development: considers the impact these advances could have on potential providers, pateints and payers; and discusses key unresolved issues. The report concludes with a brief look at some likely future developments and their implications for healthcare.

There is global use of technology in medicine and health communication, leading to terms such as telemedicine, telehealth and e-health. A wide range of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has been used both in the provision of services, as well as in messaging and communication campaigns. In South Africa limited internet penetration has led to more experimentation with cellphones. This paper provides a discussion of these projects, focusing on: The Teen SMS Helpline of the South African Depression and Anxiety Group; SIMPill which assists with compliance to tuberculosis medication; and CellLife’s Cellphones for HIV programme. The projects are described, with reflection on the possibilities for the uses of cellphones in healthcare, weighing advantages and disadvantages, particularly in the local context.

The Vodaphone Policy Paper Series No. 4 is a compilation of reports that look specifically at the contribution of Mobile phones in healthcare. The reports focus on the basic voice and text potential of mobile phones and identify opportunities for improved efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery where service provider-customer communication is important.

Moving the debate forward are reports made by experts who provide an analysis of the healthcare situation and their view on the contribution of Mobile phones in healthcare. Their analysis highlights three areas where mobile applications offer potential value to healthcare providers: Tracking inefficiencies in service provision by improving communication between service providers and users, improving the effectiveness of healthcare (and the risk of serious complications) through improved self-management and monitoring of patients with chronic conditions, and increasing the ability of hard-to-reach groups to access healthcare services by reducing the barriers of inconvenience, confidentiality, and privacy.

The Office of Health Economics (OHE) Consulting, contribute an overall analysis of healthcare costs in Western Europe and an assessment of potential applications of mobile phones in that context. Health Economists at the Tanaka Business School of Imperial College in London, NHS Direct, the University of Dundee and other institutions provide a series of case studies.

Reports included:

Upward Trend in Healthcare Spending
Analysis of Calls to NIH Direct
Review of Characteristics and Benefits of SMS in Delivering Helthcare
Potential Uses of SMS Applications for the Control of Tuberculosis
Use of Mobile Technologies to Enhance Control of Type 1 Diabetes in young People: Economic Evaluation