mHealth and 4G: Deloitte’s Harry Greenspun Sees Infinite Opportunities

I think the other thing that it opens the door to, if you think about what other industries have done in terms of creating loyalty and the desire to change, other industries have nailed this. The fitness industry has encouraged you to exercise, run, bike, etc. by making that workout data available through social media. We call this the gamification of healthcare. You can achieve much higher levels of compliance and adherence and success rates.

For example, if someone has a hip replacement, after they get out of the hospital, they need get up and get moving, and get their exercise. If that recovery is being tracked automatically, and they’re paired up with buddies, they are much more likely to do the things they need to do. And more importantly, if you’re their doctor or nurse, you can track their progress. You can use these devices to understand any possible complications. Our own study from Deloitte shows people with chronic conditions, if they need information sent to their doctor, they’d like a way to be remotely monitored automatically. They want that and now, we have the ability to do it.

Stay tuned next week for more from Dr. Greenspun. In Part 2, he discusses the opportunities in remote patient monitoring, Health 2.0, and elsewhere, as well as what are some of the mobile challenges the healthcare industry will face.