Health plans see mobile as the way to reach skeptical members, docs

Health plans for years have tried, with less success than they had hoped, to win the trust of skeptical members and even more skeptical physicians--and, of course, save money--by providing tools for managing patient care in the horribly fragmented mess that passes for a health system in the U.S. They think they finally may have found a way, in the form of mobile technology.

"The multiple technologies and two-way communication capabilities of today's mobile devices create a powerful opportunity," Dr. Robert Schwarzberg, president and CEO of consumer health information provider Sensei, tells Inside Consumer Directed Care. Sensei, a joint venture of Humana and Swiss wireless healthcare technology firm Card Guard, is tweaking a "personal digital coach"-- a mobile- and web-based weight management program--after a 2008 trial that didn't quite meet expectations. The company is one of several developing disease management applications for mobile phones.

For more reasons why health plans see mobile as the future:
- check out this Inside Consumer Directed Care piece