Mobile health and smart apps is considered a recent innovation in medicine and  provides an “on-the-go” portable healthcare resource for patients, providers, and families alike. According to Adibi (2014), mobile health technology was initially developed through recent innovations in handheld technology for the intent in benefiting developing countries in which healthcare access was limited. The logic followed that since cell phones and other various mobile devices were prevalent even in poor, rural areas of the world, perhaps these devices could serve to provide a realistic, cost-effective way to provide healthcare resources for those in need. Since its development and initial use throughout developing nations regions such as Africa and Eastern Asia, mobile health is being used today all over the globe, even among more industrialized nations for its practicality, ease of use, affordability, and time efficiency (Wolf et al., 2013).

 

A recent qualitative study of 31 males among diverse backgrounds (age, ethnicities, social class standing) were surveyed in an attempt for researchers to better understand what men want from a mobile health application (Teo, Ng, and White, 2017). According to the study, ease of use, relatable content, and social connectivity were the top three topics selected for highest priority among users (Teo, Ng, and White, 2017). These results reflect the sampled individuals’ most important areas in which programmers of mHealth technology should focus. Another recent study by McConnell and Ashley (2017) discussed the many widespread uses and applications in which mHealth could provide. 

According to Bastawrous and Armstrong (2013), mobile health and smart applications have already shown medical benefits in “diagnostics, telemedicine, research, reference libraries and interventions”. Outside of simply providing text-based information, mobile health and smart apps can further benefit patients by actively incorporating high-definition cameras, microphone, GPS, and accelerometers—all of which can be found already in most smart, cell phones (McConnell and Ashley, 2017). Another scholarly study found that mobile health and smart applications focusing on stress reduction techniques for health management were successful in decreasing stress levels among participants (Coulon, Monroe, West, 2016). Furthermore, researchers found that mobile health applications were also useful for paramedics and emergency responders in responding to community emergencies in which they were required to quickly “fill in the gaps” within a given scenario (Choi, Blumberg, and Williams, 2016).

Another recent study found mobile health technology beneficial for further educating dental students. According to the study, 89 dental students incorporated various educational resources provided by researchers in assisting their studies (Iskander, Lou, Wells, and Scarbecz, 2016). The results revealed that approximately 71% of the students showed interest in receiving educational material through mHealth applications (Iskander, Lou, Wells, and Scarbecz, 2016). Another potential benefit in which mHealth technology may provide  is for medication management. Doyle-Lindrud (2014) found that patients can use mHealth services through medication-based health applications. Doyle-Lindrud (2014) states that these applications can provide an invaluable tool for patients when dealing with numerous medications, including: doses, refills, reconciliation, and interactions. Additionally, a campus-based health clinic found that implementation of a mobile health application for college students in the area were beneficial in health prevention and health maintenance uses, in which students responded well to (Fennell and Escue, 2013). 

In other words, mobile health and smart applications are required to maintain the same legal regulations as standard, traditional forms of healthcare. An ongoing area of concern for mHealth technology relates to patient privacy, confidentiality, and data security measures enacted by HIPAA legislation. In principle, any technology is susceptible to malware and hacking—mHealth technology is no exception. Any information used with mobile health technology and health applications can be exposed, intentionally or not. Another realistic threat occurs if the device is stolen, or simply lost or misplaced. This can physically put classified protected health information at risk to someone not authorized. Another realistic concern among mobile health technology for patients and clinicians refers to the notion that there may be a sharp decline in physical, in-person doctor visits (Doyle-Lindrud, 2014). This is to say that patients may over rely on such technology as a replacement for a physician or treatment service, and healthcare systems may directly suffer. 

Bastawrous, A., & Armstrong, M. J. (2013). Mobile health use in low- and high-income countries: an overview of the peer-reviewed literature. Journal of The Royal Society of Medicine, 106(4), 130-142. doi:10.1177/0141076812472620

Choi, B. Y., Blumberg, C., & Williams, K. (2016). Mobile integrated health care and community paramedicine: An emerging emergency medical services concept. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 67(3), 361-366. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2015.06.005

Coulon, S. M., Monroe, C. M., & West, D. S. (2016). A systematic, multi-domain review of mobile smartphone apps for evidence-based stress management. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 51(1), 95-105. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2016.01.026

Doyle-Lindrud, S. (2014). Mobile health technology and the use of health-related mobile applications. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 18(6), 634-636. doi:10.1188/14.CJON.634-636

Fennell, R., & Escue, C. (2013). Using mobile health clinics to reach college students: A national demonstration project. American Journal of Health Education, 44(6), 343-348. doi:10.1080/19325037.2013.838918

Iskander, M., Lou, J., Wells, M., & Scarbecz, M. (2016). A poster and a mobile healthcare application as information tools for dental trauma management. Dental Traumatology, 32(6), 457-463. doi:10.1111/edt.12278

McConnell, M. V., & Ashley, E. A. (2017). Mobile health research --app-based trials and informed consent. New England Journal of Medicine, 376(9), 861-863.

Mobile Medical Applications (2015). U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/DigitalHealth/MobileMedicalApplications/default.htm

Teo, C. H., Ng, C. J., & White, A. (2017). What do men want from a health screening mobile app? A qualitative study. Plos ONE, 12(1), 1-16. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0169435

Wei, P., Kanthawala, S., Shupei, Y., & Hussain, S. A. (2016). A qualitative study of user perceptions of mobile health apps. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 1-11. doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3808-0

Wolf et al. (2013). "Diagnostic inaccuracy of smartphone applications for melanoma detection". JAMA Dermatology. 149 (4): 422–426.