The importance and the need of mobile technology in the health care system and in saving lives.

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Mr. Jainal h shah, a fourth year medical student studying in Gujarat medical education research society (GMERS) medical college, Gandhinagar, India. He us affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

Mobile technology has become an integral part of life for a human of 21^st century. It is no surprise that it has been emerging as an important part of every industry and health care is no exception.

So how exactly is mobile technology saving lives and changing the health care system drastically?

Mobile technology in form of  mobile phone,tablets,laptops to smart watches and other devices it connects the patient to remote monitoring, communication, access and clinical data collection of the patient. Some simple examples where use of mobile technology is done on day to day basis would be –

1) Patient with acute conditions like sore throat, uti, rashes etc, can be connected, diagnosed and treated by the physician, from home using an app from their device.

2) Care takers and nurses use telepath apps to conduct virtual visits with patients who have chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, CHF.

3) Surgeons can follow their patients through mobile apps that send patients pre and post-operative questions and record their responses and send them back to clinics for review.

Another mobile technology like Smart watches have gained popularity in recent years because of their various benefits like measuring – calories burned during exercise, blood pressure, heart rate and it also alerts the user in emergency conditions. It also   dials emergency helpline numbers in some cases of emergency. A recent example of it is when a bike rider fell of his bike while mountain ridding and hit on ground so hard that he was uncouncious,after 60 seconds on immobilization from a fall the smart watch directly dialed 911(usa emergency number) and ambulance came using the gps location of watch and the man’s life was saved^[1].

It is now practically possible that a person is being operated by a robot controlled by surgeon who is sitting in another corner of the world. It is possible due to artificial intelligence (AI) used in health care system. AI is considered to be future big thing in health care and is in still in developing stage at present. It is predicted to increase the accuracy in diagnosis and better treatment plan as well as prevention of disease. Due to robotic process automation doctors and nurses can use IOT devices to improve patient care and safety by scanning medical id bracelets and getting  up- to- the minute medical record information.

Some of the ways in which mobile technology will change health care system and our lives now or in near future are nanorobots in the bloodstream, real-time diagnostics, free genome sequencing, real time diagnostics, 3D printing, predictive algorithms and gamification in medical records.

During this time of covid-19 pandemic crisis where social distancing and minimal contact with each other is an integral part for prevention of the disease spread, mobile technology can really play a crucial part in health care in many ways. Online consultation of patient by doctor by video call through various doctor consultation apps. Doctors can provide e-prescriptions to the patients or the pharmacist directly, which in turn can send the medicines directly to patients address through fast delivery systems. 

Hence mobile technology in health care system will let us achieve a smart, more efficient and cost effective health care system.

References-

[1] – the week magazine

https://www.theweek.in/news/sci-tech/2019/09/25/apple-watch-saves-mans-life-by-calling-911-after-he-falls-from-his-bike.html

About the author

This article is written by Jainal h shah a fourth year medical student studying in Gujarat medical education research society (GMERS) medical college, Gandhinagar, India. He is an active member of medical student association of India (msai). His topic of interest are physiology, medicine. His hobbies are playing badminton, playing keyboard and listening music. He wishes to make a world a place with less sufferers by doing his small bit by serving the community.