Social Media and Mobile Health

Atlanta—Mobile devices are increasingly ubiquitous and should be utilized to improve connections between practitioners and patients and make the work of healthcare providers more efficient, ultimately benefiting all stakeholders. This was the message delivered by Steven Peskin, MD, MBA, FACP, in his presentation in a Contemporary Issues session at the AMCP meeting titled Social Medial and Mobile Health—Transforming Managed Care Pharmacy Practice. Dr. Peskin is executive vice president and chief medical officer of MediMedia USA and associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The presentation focused on 2 areas of mobile health that are driving the aforementioned trends, and the goals physicians need to set to best utilize social media and mobile technologies to improve patient outcomes. For healthcare professionals, knowledge building, increased interaction, and improved clinical actions are possible, Dr. Peskin said. On the consumer side, physicians have the opportunity to create excitement and strive to foster behavior change by making information relevant and actionable. In the connected care arena, the goal is to integrate all key stakeholders (healthcare professionals, life sciences companies, payers, and consumers) to efficiently achieve desired healthcare outcomes. In the very near future, mobile technology and apps will redefine the way consumers manage their health and address many of the challenges traditionally associated with poor outcomes, according to Dr. Peskin. There are 292 million Americans who use cell phones—93% of the American population. Five billion text messages are sent daily in this country, more than a threefold increase over 2009. Physicians use mobile devices to access the Internet more than twice the rate of the general population, but they are just starting to use mobile tools in patient communications. The consumer market for mobile monitoring devices is now estimated at $7.7 billion, but it is projected to reach $43 million by 2015. Worldwide, Dr. Peskin said, there are 4.7 billion mobile subscribers, and mobile health (mHealth) apps have grown by 78% in the United States. There are >17,000 mHealth apps available now, and 74% of them adhere to the paid business model. According to Dr. Peskin, at present health eGames, such as video games, simulations, and virtual worlds, are having a larger impact than those apps and other mHealth technologies that help manage disease. Outside the profit motive, there are many factors converging that are driving the market for connected health, said Dr. Peskin. The population, both in the United States and globally, is aging, and the incidence of chronic diseases (eg, diabetes, obesity, arthritis) is increasing. Meanwhile, the cost of healthcare continues to rise, provider availability is decreasing, but consumers expect quality and convenience from their healthcare providers. There is also a continued flow of increasingly available information from blogs, microblogs, forums, and search engines available to mobile consumers. Practitioners themselves can and should be providers of this information, said Dr. Peskin; 94% of physicians use smart phones, with 56% having access to iPhones and 21.75% using the iPad. Almost 60% of practitioners use their mobile devices to research medical information. Apps such as J&J Black Bag, Medscape, and eProcrates are designed specifically for physicians and other providers. Other apps, such as iPatientED, MedCalc, and ICD-9 Lite, are also available. In terms of patient education and contact, Facebook, even among Internet users up to 65 years of age, is becoming more popular. As of this year, there are >800 million active Facebook users, or 1 of every 8 people on Earth. Social networks influence patients’ treatment decisions; 53% of patients 35 to 44 years of age say these networks have “some impact” or a “strong impact” on these decisions. There is a need, said Dr. Peskin, for social media to be developed, or used, that will establish better physician-patient connections as well as create physician communities or patient communities. Social communities, especially mobile social communities, could facilitate sharing of clinical insights and solutions to clinical problems. These communities could also source and disseminate research immediately and help build business relationships. Some communities that have already emerged are those of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the Pharmacist Society, and the Medical Directors Forum. These communities, and others like them, said Dr. Peskin, will improve availability of information and make practice management and patient-practitioner engagement more cost-effective.