Healthcare in your pocket: unlocking the potential of mHealth
10 Apr 2014 11:54 AM
The European Commission has launched a
consultation on #mHealth or mobile health, asking for help in finding ways to
enhance the health and wellbeing of Europeans with the use of mobile devices,
such as mobile phones, tablets, patient monitoring devices and other wireless
devices.
European Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes (@NeelieKroesEU), responsible for the Digital Agenda, said:
"mHealth will reduce costly visits to hospitals, help citizens take
charge of their own health and wellbeing, and move towards prevention rather
than cure. It is also a great opportunity for the booming app economy and for
entrepreneurs.
I personally use a sports-band on my wrist to
measure how active I am from day to day, so I am a great supporter of mHealth
already. Please send us your input into this consultation to help us become
global leaders in this fascinating area".
European Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg (@borgton) said:
"mHealth has a great potential to empower citizens to manage their own
health and stay healthy longer, to trigger greater quality of care and comfort
for patients, and to assist health professionals in their work. As such,
exploring mHealth solutions can contribute to modern, efficient and sustainable
health systems".
How
can mHealth help?
Using mHealth is a triple win! mHealth
services:
-
put the patient in control, giving
greater independence, and helping to prevent health problems
-
make a more efficient healthcare
system, with vast potential for cost-savings
-
create huge
opportunities for innovative services, start-ups
and the app economy.
Some examples of mHealth
-
an
app that measures your vital signals such as blood pressure
-
an
app to help administer insulin to a diabetic, by transmitting control signals
to the pump from a mobile platform
-
an
app to remind patients they should take their medication
-
an
app providing fitness or dietary recommendations to improve users' overall
health and wellbeing
The
good news
There are nearly 100,000
mHealth #apps already available across multiple platforms such as
iTunes, Google play, Windows Marketplace, BlackBerry World. The top 20 free
sports, fitness and health apps already account for 231 million
downloads worldwide. By 2017, 3.4 billion people worldwide will
own a smartphone and half of them will be using mHealth apps. In 2017, if its
potential is fully unlocked, mHealth could save €99 billion in
healthcare costs in the EU. And with the Connected Continent package
receiving a positive vote in the European Parliament last week, we are one
step closer to safeguarding innovative services in the EU.
What needs to be addressed?
We
still need to address issues like the safety of mHealth apps, concerns over the
use of their data, the lack of interoperability among available solutions and
the lack of stakeholder knowledge of the legal requirements applicable to
lifestyle and wellbeing apps, such as compliance with data protection rules and
whether these apps are medical devices and need to obtain CE marking. It is
also important that we build trust among health professionals and citizens, and
we help people use mHealth services effectively.
What questions does the consultation
pose?
Consumer and patients' organisations, health
professionals and health organisations, public authorities, app developers,
telecommunications service providers, mobile device manufacturers, individuals
and all interested parties are invited to respond to the consultation, by 3 July 2014. Examples of the
questions being asked are:
What safety and performance
requirements should apply to lifestyle and wellbeing
apps?
Which security
safeguards could ensure health data is safe in an mHealth
context?
What is the best way to promote
mHealth entrepreneurship in Europe?
Commissioner for Health Tonio Borg
The
EU is also funding research on mHealth. For instance, patients with kidney
failure will soon be able to monitor their dialysis on their smartphone, apps
already exist to manage stress, and medical staff in Graz, Austria, has greatly
improved internal workflow with a new mobile system. Find out more in MEMO/14/266.
Background
mHealth is an emerging part of #eHealth @EU_eHealth, where Information & Communication
Technologies are used to improve health products, services and processes. It is
a promising area to supplement the traditional delivery of healthcare, and
complements rather than replaces it.
Published in 2012, the Commission's eHealth Action Plan
2012-2020 recognised the current and potential benefits of mobile
health apps, as well as potential associated risks, and announced this Green
Paper on mHealth.
This Green Paper is accompanied by a Staff Working Document to raise stakeholders awareness of EU
rules on data protection, medical devices (helping them determine whether such
legislation applies to their apps or not) and consumer
directives.
Respond by 3 July 2014 here , by e-mail, or by post to:
European Commission, DG Communications Networks, Content
& Technology
Unit H1, Health & Well-being
Avenue de Beaulieu/Beaulieulaan 31, Brussels 1049 -
Belgium.
The
Commission will publish the summary of responses in the fourth quarter of 2014;
possible policy actions are expected in 2015.
Useful links
Green Paper on mHealth
Respond to the consultation
Staff Working Document on the existing EU legal framework applicable to
lifestyle and wellbeing apps
eHealth in the Digital Agenda
MEMO/14/266 What mHealth can do for you
Vice
President Neelie Kroes
-