Mobile health era coming, challenges ahead

By Song Jingli (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-06-04 15:28

Most mobile health companies, whether they provide chronicle illness management or remote diagnosis, have not resolved the most essential problem, that is, it is very difficult for most doctors in public hospitals, especially those in Triple-A hospitals to provide accurate and detailed professional advice to customers via mobile devices and apps, said the ChinaVenture report. Currently Chinese people prefer to go to big hospitals due to medical insurance compensation, high-quality medical service offered by more professional and experienced doctors, who are only allowed to practice in one hospital under current regulations. A directive to allow doctors to practice at multiple medical institutions may come out in September this year, according to a National Business Daily report posted on the Chinese government's official website, www.gov.cn on May 29.

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Brookings' Darrell West said there are similar challenges in the United States as most doctors receive inadequate reimbursement for mobile health initiatives and neither public nor private insurance covers the cost of mobile health consultations, diagnosis, or treatment. And this has slowed the adoption of mobile health initiatives and made it difficult to reap the benefits of the mobile technology revolution, he added.

In addition, he said lack of standards creates uncertainty in the marketplace and makes it more difficult for companies to develop new products and services, citing research2guidance survey data which indicate that 50 percent of respondents think the lack of hardware and software standards is an important reason impeding the development of the mobile medical market.

A China Unicom research fellow, who was not authorized to speak to the media and asked not to be identified, told chinadaily.com.cn in late May that China Unicom had done researches and conduct trials in areas such as smart cities, smart communities and smart medical care and had even participated in drafting some standards but after the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China did release a pilot guideline for building smart communities on May 4 this year, the company needs to adjust accordingly.

Although lack of standards and out-of-date regulations might have slowed the development of mobile health sector, wrong positioning might be another reason.

Liu Fan, director of the Information Center of Peking University People's Hospital, a triple-A hospital, said that most early entrepreneurs have not figured out what information technology hospitals really need, according to a May 30 report of the 21st Century Business Herald.