Vision

mHealth Initiative Inc (mHI), a not-for-profit organization incorporated in Massachusetts, USA, envisions the emerging mHealth Revolution. Cell phones and other mobile Devices (mDevices) are becoming prized tools of clinicians after initially being viewed as forbidden gadgets.

mDevices offer interoperability, provide the basis of mobile communications, allow access to the Internet and the huge scientific body of medicine, serve as documentation systems, and provide decision support guidance for care. But their most important benefit is in enabling Participatory Health, the new paradigm that involves healthy people, patients, wellness and care providers, payers, pharma, researchers and public health as active participants in a healthcare system that is open and transparent, with the patient at its center. Most of all, it allows new 24/7 communication patterns between healthcare participants, including observations of daily living (ODLs).

News

mHealth Initiative's Blog
Check out mHI's first blog entry - The Vision of mHealth - and the video it references (see next entry below), and let us know what you think.

mHealth: The Vision, the Scope, and Practical Implementation
Keynotes from mHealth Networking Conference are now available for viewing. Go to www.vimeo.com and search for mHealth: The Vision to view the keynote presentations by C. Peter Waegemann about the vision of mHealth, Claudia Tessier about its scope, and Dr. Andrew Barbash about its practical implementation.


Med-eTel Conference, April 14-16, 2010, Luxembourg
mHealth Initiative leaders C. Peter Waegemann and Claudia Tessier will be speaking at this International eHealth, Telemedicine, and Health ICT Forum. Waegemann will speak in the opening session on the mHealth Revolution, and Tessier will speak in a breakout session on managing health information on mobile devices. Click here for more information on the impressive program covering international aspects of both eHealth and mHealth.

Claudia Tessier, president of mHealth Initiative, has authored the first comprehensive book on mHealth, Management and Security of Health Information on Mobile Devices, which can now be ordered from AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association). Click here to order.

Which cell phone should a clinician select?
Check out our Observatory page to learn the steps to follow for selection - and much, much more

Learn about "New Communication Patterns in Healthcare" and “Which Healthcare Applications are Available on Various Smartphones?” on our Observatory page.   

We are pleased to offer mHealth Initiative's website viewers a special one-time online journal subscription rate to Telemedicine and e-Health Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers. This is a 2010 personal online subscription (10 issues) including all the journal online archives (16 volumes), as well as the twice weekly email newsletter Telemedicine and e-Health News Alert for only $99 (a $164 value). Click to order or call 800-654-3237 and mention code pcmhealth to subscribe at this special rate. This offer is valid through March 31, 2010.

2nd International mHealth Networking Conference 

Sponsored by mHealth Initiative

September 8-9, 2010
Town & Country Resort Hotel
San Diego CA
Click here to book your hotel room at the special conference rate of $134+/night.

Click here to register by April 8 at the low rate of $395

Planning Meeting for San Diego city-wide mHealth Event in September 2010

Planning Meeting
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 10 AM

Town & Country Resort Hotel
Le Sommet Room, 9th Floor, Regency Tower
500 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, CA

Directions: Drive toward the back of the hotel and park close to the two tower buildings. The Regency Tower is on the right side.
Contact Peter Waegemann at 617-717-9099 (peter@mobih.org) if you have questions.

mHealth Initiative invites interested persons to explore the potential of a community-wide mHealth event in San Diego in September in conjunction with the 2nd mHealth Networking Conference.  The vision is to create a city-wide event to showcase San Diego as an advanced mHealth community. 

Potential objectives of this event include:

  • Addressing communication patterns for the future, demonstrating to patients and providers the benefits of new communication patterns enabled through mDevices
  • Informing clinicians about mHealth options and opportunities (Note: support is already being generated from educational institutions, hospitals, and others)
  • Providing smartphone apps training for local nurses and physicians and other healthcare providers
  • Involving local leaders and media, exploring, for instance, designating San Dan Diego as an mHealth City during the conference week
  • Holding mHealth fitness events - such as, but not limited to, biking tour with data tracking, diabetes walk with device training, etc.
  • Showcasing Southern California vendors who promote healthy living
  • Announcing/initiating communication-based disease management projects
  • And more (this is just a quick first cut)


The community event would be in connection with the 2nd mHealth Networking Conference, September 8-9, 2010, which is expected to draw over 500 attendees.

Attendance at this planning meeting is free to interested persons. However, for planning and space purposes, please register by sending an email to peter@mobih.org  with the subject line “will attend planning meeting” and including your name, title, affiliation, email, and mobile phone in the text

 

To stay informed about mHealth, click here to join our mailing list.

Some comments about the 1st mHealth Networking Conference, February 3-4, 2010 in DC -  

"And what did I learn from two intensive days of meetings about mobile health? Well, it confirmed my belief that this is the most exciting, dynamic area of healthcare innovation..."
- Neil Versel, FierceMobileHealthcare


"Really enjoyed your mConference. Good energy, good variety of talks, LOVED Adam Bosworth's talk. Wow!"
- Harry Sleeper, The MITRE Corporation


"This was an excellent event with great ideas that, I think, can be industry-transformative."
- Moses Cesario, Ramsell Information Technologies


In addition, media coverage includes:


Also, check these blog entrie:


Reports of 1st International mHealth Networking Conference

Close to 300 representatives from health plans, provider organizations joined nurses, government officials, investment bankers and industry representatives at the mHealth Networking Conference in the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington DC, February 3-4, 2010.  While most registrants came from the US, the meeting also drew several attendees from Asia and Europe.

The opening plenary session was especially well received, where the comprehensive vision of mHealth was explored by mHealth Initiative leaders C. Peter Waegemann and Claudia Tessier. Other keynote presentations included an update by Dr. Mohit Kaushal of the FCC on its plans for mHealth; and Dr. Andy Barbash, a neurologist, described how he uses simple networking solutions to improve the quality of care and enhance his role as a caregiver, emphasizing the ease with which they can be adopted by other healthcare providers. Adam Bosworth of Keas (formerly of Google Health) described the Keas approach to personal health records and announced its plans for mobility.

In breakout sessions, speakers noted that low-cost solutions exist today to create medical networks, implement new communication patterns with patients, colleagues, and others such as pharmacies, labs, payers, etc. Many focused on the use of apps on smartphones and the changing healthcare decision making processes for patients and healthcare professionals. The need for a restructuring of the healthcare system was also emphasized, including a payment system that reimburses a caregiver for researching and for communications outside of the traditional encounter. 

Fitness and healthy-living programs were also a focus. Participatory health, as a necessary element of mHealth, will change our healthcare system dramatically.  Yet, while these systems promise to cost savings and improved quality of life, they remain to be integrated into the wellness and healthcare process.

It was acknowledged that the field is so vast and there are so many developments that it is difficult to conduct a comprehensive analysis.  However, the benefits of mHealth are clear to those practices, clinics, hospitals, and health plans that are experimenting with a variety of implementations.

In response to the growing level of interest and the rapid pace of developments in mHealth, mHealth Initiative has scheduled its next mHealth Networking Conference for September 8-9, 2010 in San Diego, CA, where attendance is expected to double. An early bird registration rate of $295 is offered through March 5.