As hospitals rush headlong toward mHealth, many are skipping over a key step in the adoption process: strategy.
In one recent survey, health IT consulting firm Medullan asked more than 100 healthcare provider professionals to name the top driver for their organization's mHealth initiative. The top answer? "No driver."
I get it--mobile is sexy; strategic planning not so much. But healthcare providers would never expand cardiac services or launch a new service line or invest significant dollars in new technology or equipment without first testing the market and setting clear goals and objectives. Why is mHealth different?
It's not, of course.
And that's why we're bringing together an impressive panel of experts at next month's mHealth Summit in the Washington, D.C. area, for a breakfast session on Tuesday, Dec. 4 about the use of remote monitoring and other mHealth tactics to reduce readmissions.
Hospitals increasingly are adopting telehealth and remote monitoring strategies, in large part because they can significantly reduce costs and improve care and access, and because they are particularly well-suited for managing patient populations that are most at-risk for readmissions and complications, such as diabetes patients and patients at risk for heart failure or hypertension.
Our panelists, experts and leaders from Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins University, and St. Vincent Health in Indianapolis, will discuss:
- How to use wireless remote monitoring to improve quality and outcomes and reduce readmissions
- What actions you must take today to prepare for the mHealth technologies of tomorrow
- How to manage patients who are most at-risk for readmissions, such as those with chronic diseases
- The value proposition of remote monitoring initiatives and how to measure the ROI of effective business models
(Read more about our panelists here. They include Virend K. Somers, M.D., professor of medicine and consultant in cardiovascular diseases at the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation in Rochester, Minn.; Alain Labrique, Ph.D., founding director, Johns Hopkins University Global mHealth Initiative in Baltimore; and Alan Snell, M.D., chief medical informatics officer, St. Vincent Health in Indianapolis)
On a personal note, I've attended every summit since the first one and have watched the sessions and dialogue progress over those years from inspirational but somewhat vague speeches about the potential of mHealth in developing countries to debates over whether or not such programs are effective to deep dives into the privacy, safety, and regulatory barriers to mHealth to celebrations of the vendors and innovators who had begun developing mHealth apps and programs to--finally--case studies of real-world mHealth tactics that are getting measurable results.
I suspect that this year's fourth annual mHealth Summit will be even more practical and strategic, not only because mHealth has gone from concept to reality in the last several years but because the Healthcare Information and Management and Systems Society has lent its support to the event. The backing of the professional organization is, in itself, a validation of the idea that mHealth is here to stay.
If you're serious about making your program successful, I hope you'll join us on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at the Gaylord Hotel in the Washington, D.C. area.
(You can register for the event here.) - Gienna (@Gienna)