| | November 20189has opened various avenues, not only to change the dynamics of physician-patient relationship, but also to enable the development of smart algorithms for early detec-tion of diseases. The well-estab-lished mobile health technology industry has helped in avoiding excessive challenging and expen-sive infrastructure, which is usu-ally borne by the patients. On the other hand, lifestyle change has further give rise to chronic diseas-es in the country. With this tech-nology, management of chronic diseases, rising healthcare costs and greater interest in patient-cen-tric healthcare is possible. The definition of mHealth has also undergone a significant change in recent years. From just being a healthcare service provid-er through smartphones and other mobile devices, the periphery of mhealth technology has expanded in recent years. Doctors/Caregiv-ers are able to access the clinical information of the patients and collaborate with care, while dis-cussing procedures. They are also able to communicate with patients through patient portals and offer real-time monitoring of patients through these apps. This new adoption is also allowing patients to keep a track of their own health data through various m-Health apps and devices. The bigger question today is, if mobile clinical technology is a bane or boon? But what we un-derstand is that it is becoming an inevitable element of the health-care landscape. The extended electronic healthcare is helping in monitoring conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, autism, insomnia and asthma. Use of de-vices such as smartphones, tablets and mobile printers by physicians, nurses and other healthcare pro-fessionals at the point-of-care im-proves doctor-patient interaction and helps saving the patient's and caregiver's time.Though there has been tre-mendous improvement in patient monitoring even in remote ar-eas, mhealth is still a developing concept with multiple challenges. Protecting the privacy of patient information shared on mobile de-vices is one of the biggest tasks. Additionally, due to the sudden boom of healthcare apps, deter-mining which mHealth app is saf-est, most effective and creating ef-fective awareness among the users are some of the challenges, which require urgent solutions. If these barriers are resolved properly, then this technology can elevate patient care, enabling positive use of mobile devices in giving healthcare a more personalised approach.With a rapid growth in smart-phones & tablets and easy access to the Internet, more and more patients/consumers are getting interested in knowing more about mobile health. The growing enthu-siasm shows that patients are con-cerned towards their health and would like to receive best standard of treatment. This clinical mobil-ity is essential for the healthcare industry to become more effi-cient and effective while enabling healthcare professionals the best means to help people. The Indi-an Government is also focusing on mHealth to be the most useful and convenient vehicle for disease surveillance, treatment support, epidemic outbreak tracking and chronic disease management. The popularity and use of mHealth is increasing daily especially in the underserved areas with large pop-ulation where habitants majorly rely on mobile phones. In short, mHealth is here to stay despite many fears of surveillance. THE BIGGER QUESTION TODAY IS, IF MOBILE CLINICAL TECHNOLOGY IS A BANE OR BOON? BUT WHAT WE UNDERSTAND IS THAT IT IS BECOMING AN INEVITABLE ELEMENT OF THE HEALTHCARE LANDSCAPEDr. G S K Velu
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