I have noticed some seemingly opposite interpretations (at first glance) about the enthusiasm for mHealth technologies by physicians. One article appearing in Informationweek.com on November 21st “Doctors Slow To Embrace Telemedicine, Cloud Computing”(http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/mobile-wireless/231903483?queryText=nicole+lewis) . Another article appearing on November 17th in a different site was entitled “Mobile technology implementation now top of mind for most docs” (http://www.fiercemobilehealthcare.com/story/mobile-technology-implementation-now-top-mind-most-docs/2011-11-17) . So what is the real story? I believe that physicians are mentally prepared for mHealth technologies but adoption is slow for various reasons, some of which were outlined in a previous article by this author (http://davidleescher.com/2011/09/20/what-will-it-take-to-give-traction-to-mhealth-technology/). These articles, seemingly contradictory, are really not. They are examining different aspects of the same issue, one operational, the other psychological. Online and other media coverage of all the aspects of adoption by physicians, whether psychological, economic, political or educational, is important. Many of the online technology, business, and medical publishers and interested individuals and companies via social media reflect on these different aspects.
In addition, while performing a bit of ad hoc observational research of online (Internet sites and Twitter) resources, I noticed some interesting things. There is interchanging of terms relating to electronic health records, mobile apps, mobile health, Internet use, and others when referring to adoption and utilization trends. This may make compiling the data and making conclusions difficult.
Therefore, when examining white papers, reports, and other sources of information on this important issue, it is worthwhile to remember to differentiate the description of the technology, as well as the aspect of adoption examined. There is much information out there, with much more to come on the subject. Hopefully it will all be in the positive.
