Mobile devices to transform health
By Yolanda Redrup
January 19, 2016, 5:43am
http://www.copyright link/content/dam/images/g/m/7/i/j/d/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gm7i2r.png/1453142597448.jpg
Chamonix chief executive Geoff Rohrsheim says the opening up of the health industry's data will allow entrepreneurs to start innovating. Supplied
Imagine a health system where hospitals could liaise with each other to maximise space, patients could receive their results on the go and long wait times would be a thing of the past. There's every chance this is what the sector will look like thanks to mobile devices, and Australian company Chamonix is helping hospitals make the transition.
This shift towards mobility has been kickstarted by new legislation which digitises Australians' health records.
IT consulting company Chamonix, the brain child of serial entrepreneur Geoff Rohrsheim, has connected more than a hundred Australian hospitals to the My Health Record system, formerly the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record, since it was proposed in 2010.
Under the PCEHR, Australians had to opt-in to digitise their medical data, but in November the e-health bill was passed which made it so that an online record would be created by default, and people would have to opt-out if they didn't want their data online.
But Mr Rorhsheim said the new e-health system was still behind the times, and that the real advancements in health care would come once the industry had embraced mobile solutions.
"All other industries have already moved to mobile devices because it's so much more efficient," he said.
"There is an m-health trial starting soon which we're quite excited about. A clinician on a smartphone or Apple Watch will be able to see when results come in for patients in both private and public hospitals."
In May Health Minister Sussan Ley said less than 10 per cent of eligible Australians had signed up to the My Health Record system when it was in its opt-in phase, minimising its usefulness.
To improve the system, the government has dedicated $485 million in extra funding over four years.
Mr Rohrsheim said that once digital health records were commonplace, this would lead to a more efficient healthcare system.
"Prescriptions, for example, at the moment you get a piece of paper, put it in a draw and then you need a repeat and you've lost it. Wouldn't it be good to be able to walk into a pharmacy, have the eHealth system know you need a repeat and be able to get it from any pharmacy in Australia?" he said.
"Most referrals are still done by paper and fax too, if that was electronic you could do far smarter scheduling."
Deloitte has estimated that the mHealth industry will be worth $21 billion by 2018.
Eventually Fitbits may also be able to upload data to people's health records and devices could send health data on elderly patients straight to a nurse, allowing older people to stay at home for longer.
PwC's 2014 Health Research Institute Report also found that digitally enabled care had moved from a "nice-to-have" to a "fundamental of delivering high quality care".
The opening up of healthcare data will also lead to more innovation in the sector.
Currently outside of medical device and drug development there are very few start-ups in the industry, but that is starting to change.
In December a website which provides doctors certificates over the internet, Dr Sicknote, launched and has so far been visited over 10,000 times and issued more than 100 medical certificates.
Australian consumer health tech start-up CliniCloud also launched a connected medical device kit last year, which is gaining traction in the US.
The internet-connected stethoscope can be remotely listened to by clinicians, allowed diagnoses to occur quickly and efficiently. The kit also includes a digital thermometer.
"At the moment it's frustrating," Mr Rohrsheim said. "You think of all the industries you can be tapped into on your smartphone, but you've got nothing from health. It will be mHealth where consumers will start to see the benefit."
XTV Price at posting:
1.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)