For me, some of the hurdles to using a cell phone or other mobile device for a robust healthcare application were evident from the first few minutes of the mobile health conference. I opened my registration bag expecting to find a program and there was none, just a website that I could access from my smart phone, this being a mobile health conference after all.
Well I do have a Blackberry, but the program did not appear as advertised, so I decided to try my NetBook (my small travel computer). At least I'd be able to read the print. After a conversation to learn the WiFi password, which was different from the one I'd been given, I finally found the conference program listing and was just a few minutes late for the first session.
Aside from the tiny phone screen, intermittent access, and multiple devices, not to mention the expense, there are other issues that need to be resolved before the health programs become mainstream. The companies involved in mobile health are working on data standards for storing patient records and figuring out the best way to develop and test applications that need to run on Blackberries, Droids, Iphones, and Ipads, all with different coding requirements and features that change every few months. They are also working with our federal government to determine which agencies will regulate some of the devices. If a cell phone does medical diagnosis is the agency in charge the FDA, the FCC, or both? If you can input clinical trial information into your cell phone which part of the NIH is concerned about the way that is done?
It was clear that it will be some years before mobile health applications are an integral part of your and your doctor's life. For the conference participants, the future had not quite arrived. The conference organizers decided they needed a print schedule after all and I was happy to see the large letters and carry the paper.
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