This extensive report reviews the state of knowledge, funding, policy, human resources and other issues for the use of mobile technology for treatment compliance, data collection and disease surveillance, health information systems and point‐of‐care support tools for health workers, disease prevention and health promotion and emergency medical response. It also identifies a number of policy barriers and research gaps that limit the usefulness and expansion on mHealth in LMICs.
The authors' summarize their findings with the conclusion that -
...the current single‐solution focus of mHealth needs to be replaced by using mHealth as an extension and integrator of underlying health information systems along the continuum of care. End‐to‐end patient care systems and point‐of‐care support for health workers are needed whereby mHealth applications are interoperable and integrated with provider systems linking the most remote community health worker with the most appropriate sources of information when and where it is needed. Such systems have the ability to generate individual level data at the household and facility level that when aggregated can serve as the basis for health information and disease surveillance systems as well as link into financial systems for claims and reimbursements. Creating a strong collaborative foundation will be instrumental in driving and positioning public and private investment in mHealth in a way that contributes to achieving improved access to health information and services, health outcomes, and efficiencies.
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