Medical Wellness Park: Juni 2012

iTriage News: Power to the People: How Smartphones are Changing the Way We Think about Healthcare

Power to the People: How Smartphones are Changing the Way We Think about Healthcare
2012-04-09 - iTriage Health

Forrester published a report recently titled Mobile is the New Face of Engagement. As the name implies, Forrester found that mobile users of a service are more engaged than non-mobile users of the same service. Forrester followed up the report with a series of blog posts on the subject of mobile, citing some very good examples of mobile driving adoption and usage numbers that were way beyond expectations. The posts are worth reading to see just how far beyond expectation mobile was able to drive user numbers.

Healthcare organizations and vendors should be paying close attention to this Forrester report and other self reported data from consumer companies like Twitter and Facebook. Twitter and Facebook have users that are motivated, something that is much harder with digital health services for consumers, but the lessons those companies have learned about user engagement can help inform healthcare decision making. Often mobile health, or mHealth, is cited as a cure to some of our ailing health systems symptoms based on the number of users that have mobile, and increasingly smart, phones. While this is a strong reason to offer health services over mobile devices, this is far from the only reason. More importantly, as Forrester found, mobile is engagement.

As our healthcare system reforms to try to meet the goals of better care and lower costs, patients are being put in the drivers seat, or center, of their own care. For patients to effectively play this role and bring about the changes health reform is calling for, they have to be engaged. Patient engagement is the key to shifting healthcare yet nobody, vendor, payer, or hospital, has created a model for patient engagement that scales and is persistent beyond the early adoption stage.

What is needed are intuitive, patient-centered health services delivered to where patients consume and interact with the world. Mobile is increasing that channel for consumption and interaction. While technology alone is not the answer, technology enabled services, delivered over mobile channels, that improve and extend the current health system, are the keys to successful reform.

Below are a couple of scenarios of how mobile can empower and engage patients to make better health decisions.

Scenario 1: A parent is called in to a school to pick up a sick child. On the way, the parent enters the symptoms from the school nurse into an app on her phone. Based on the results, the mother is provided with a list of providers in her area that can see her child that day. Additionally, she can see quality information about those providers and choose based on physician quality, distance, and wait time to be seen. In the meantime, the app, which hopefully is FDA-approved, can tell her the proper dosage of ibuprofen is for child based on weight. When she sees the doctor, who isn't her regular pediatrician, she opens another app and gives an accurate vaccination history and allergy information. Before she leaves the doctor, she enters relevant information from the visit, as well as contact info for the provider for future reference. She takes a photo of the treatment instructions with her phone and it gets added as a PDF to the app and her child's personal health record.

Scenario 2: As a patient is leaving his PCP, he is given a script (yes, we still do paper) for a medication and a referral for an MRI without contrast. Before deciding which pharmacy or specialist to go to, he opens an app and snaps a picture of the script. The app logs the location, transcribes the script, and sends a message back within 2 minutes with a list of prices for the medication both at local retail pharmacies as well as online. The app, now knowing the medication regimen, offers to remind the patient when the medication is to be taken, improving compliance and reducing the risk of a follow-up visit. Next, he searches for "MRI without contrast" in his zip code using a mobile website and gets a list of facilities, prices, and user reviews. He can then automatically book a slot for certain facilities or click to call others.

Both of these scenarios, and there are countless others, show just how powerful mobile devices and apps can be to empower patients to make health-related decisions. The information patients can potentially have in their pockets puts them at the center of many healthcare decisions. I'm not in anyway advocating for patients using apps or devices to replace doctors, I'm advocating for them to have insights into their health and our health system that can be used to improve outcomes, lower costs, and ultimately result in happier, more engaged patients. In order for patients to use this information, it has to be as convenient as possible, and that means mobile.

Travis Good, MD, MBA, MS, has a unique background that blends technology, clinical medicine, and public health. After deciding to leave the technology industry and pursue clinical training as an MD, he realized the potential power and lack of adoption of technology in healthcare and medical education. He subsequently decided to pursue a non-clinical career path, specifically focused on the development of innovative solutions to both empower and inform care, ultimately aimed at reducing the overall cost of care, making life a little easier for providers in the process. He currently acts as Editor of HIStalkMobile, an industry blog with both news and commentary, and speaks on the subject. Travis has also founded multiple businesses and non-profits focused on healthcare both domestically and internationally. His current company is a medical education company called Mobicratic. More about Travis Good.

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Tags: iTriage, mhealth, mobile health, mobile healthcare, smartphones

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Thomas Gloth

glothkom.de GmbH

Postfach 3112

21670 Stade

iTriage News: How Can Parents Help Their Overweight Children?

How Can Parents Help Their Overweight Children?
2012-06-04 - iTriage Health

Having an overweight child can be a challenge for any parent. You want your child to be healthy and happy. Not only is being overweight bad for your child's physical health, but it can take a toll on their emotional health as well. Overweight children can suffer from diseases that were once thought to be adult diseases. Children are now being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

For the health and happiness of your child you want to find a way to instill positive discipline in them. It is important that you teach them how to make good decisions so that they can make good food and lifestyle choices on their own and not be saddled with being overweight for the rest of their lives. There are positive steps you can take to help your child make good decisions each day and take steps towards becoming a healthier child and eventually a healthy and fit adult.

Discipline Yourself

The first step you can take is to lead by example. If you are filling your plate with vegetables and fruits at every meal then your children will be doing the same thing. You should eat healthy meals and snacks and your children will do what they see you doing. Keep your pantry and refrigerator stocked with healthy snacks. Your children cannot eat junk food if it isn't in the house. When your children see you snacking on carrot sticks and nuts, then they will copy that behavior.

Find another Way

Junk food tastes good and can be fun. Children do not eat foods that are unhealthy because they hate them. Unfortunately if you are too strict and never let your children have any treats, they will probably rebel and just sneak it behind your back. They key is moderation and finding healthier ways to include their favorite foods. Most foods have healthier alternatives that can easily be fit into a healthy lifestyle. Burgers and fries are a prime example. You can have this meal in a healthy way if you make it yourself and avoid the drive through.

A burger and fries can be an enjoyable meal that is healthy too. Make your family burger patties made of either lean ground beef or ground turkey. Put those burgers on a high fiber bun and use lower calorie condiments such as mustard, ketchup or even bbq sauce. If you want cheese use a light sprinkling of shredded cheese so you can get the flavor with fewer calories. You can skin and slice potatoes, toss them in olive oil and kosher salt and then bake for a healthy alternative to French fries. The best way to get kids eating healthy foods is to have them help you prepare them. They will feel more involved and will be more likely to eat them.

Get Out and Get Moving

Your children should see you exercising on a regular basis, but it should not stop there. You need to find ways to get them up and moving every day. One way to do this is to limit how much time they can spend watching television or using the computer for non school activities. This will encourage your children to spend their time in physical play instead of sitting in front of a screen. Buy your children a bicycle, scooter or sports equipment instead of video games. Allow your children to choose only their favorite television shows and limit their television viewing to only those shows.

The next step is to get them moving. One of the best ways to do this is to play with them. When you can you should get out with your kids and play tag or go for a bike ride. You can try different activities as a family until you find something that your child really enjoys. You may also want to get your children involved in sports or other physical activities. If being on a baseball team does not thrill your child, you can always try gymnastics, swimming or martial arts.

Finding an activity that your child really loves will go a long way in helping them stick to exercising. Forcing them into activities they do not enjoy will probably not lead to lifelong healthy habits because they will quit as soon as they can. But, if you find some they are excited about doing, they will be excited to exercise. Children who love exercise are more likely to turn into adults who love to exercise.

In the end the most important thing is to be positive. Reward and praise your children when they practice healthy habits. Practice healthy habits yourself and your children will naturally make healthy choices. Never shame or berate your children for making choices that you view as unhealthy. Instead, celebrate their victories and they will continue to work towards more victories every day.

Janet Lynch is a blogger and writer for various food and health websites. She is also an expert on diet food delivery and other easy solutions to weight loss.

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