A new study designed for healthcare marketers sheds some interesting insights on physicians’ attitudes toward mHealth – namely, that they’re more worried about their own workflows than the technology’s clinical benefits.
The study, prepared by the MedData Group, argues that physicians need to be convinced that mHealth will first help them with their own problems – saving money and time. Once those concerns are answered, the study says, they’ll view the technology with an eye toward improving patient outcomes.
“Until (mobile health) information is intelligently managed, which requires high-intensity human oversight, which to date we have been unwilling to program or to pay for, we will continue to have only what our current technology provides: A vast and unmanageable amount of uncontrolled, non-vetted and non-meaningful information (classically described for the last 40 years in technology systems as ‘garbage in = garbage out),” the study quoted one physicians as saying.
The 30-page study, “Physician Perceptions of Mobile & Connected Health,” compiled from interviews with more than 500 physicians between December 2013 and March 2014, does paint a positive picture for the mHealth industry. The transformation to a system of connected care “is tantalizingly close and incredibly exciting,” it states, with benefits for both the provider (reduced costs, faster and more accurate diagnoses, better population management tools) and the patient (improved care from remote monitoring and video-enabled visits, better communication with caregivers).
But the stick in the mud so far is the provider.
According to the study, some providers are skeptical that mHealth will improve their profession, grousing that connected health technology “allows the federal government to take over healthcare and put everyone in a bad position.” Another physician said mHealth is “good for patients but nobody will want to ever become a doctor.”
According to the study, physicians feel that mHealth is pushing them to the outside of the health reform discussion and taking decision-making power out of their hands. And yet two-thirds of physicians surveyed are using mHealth tools in the office now, and many say they’ll adopt new mobile technology within the next year – with a full 60 percent saying they’re interested in mobile technology that helps them access the electronic health record.
Physicians are looking for mHealth tools that improve their workflows first, the study says. When asked what new applications they’d consider during the next year, while most are looking for mobile access to the EHR, more than 30 percent are also looking for secure texting; point-of-care drug, device or diagnosis information and patient portals for scheduling communication. Farther down the list were patient use of mobile device for health monitoring and patient e-visits leveraging mobile devices.
When asked why they’re adopting mHealth, according to the survey, the highest responses were time efficiency and cost efficiency, with improved quality and continuity of care, improved communication with patients and patient demand farther down on the list.
“That is not to suggest that doctors are unconcerned about increasing the quality of care or satisfying patients. They are,” the study says. “But they are not yet convinced that mHealth technology is, in most cases, ready to help them achieve those ends, or that patients are crying out for such technology.”
That point is proven in one final survey question, which asked physicians about the anticipated benefits of a connected healthcare environment. Close to 60 percent of those surveyed identified interoperable EHRs that allow physicians to have real-time access to all of a patient’s medical records as the biggest benefit. Falling much farther back were remote monitoring, patient portals and high-definition video technology.
‘To be clear, interoperable EHRs offer a bounty of benefits to both doctors and patients,” the study points out. “But it is also the benefit of connected healthcare that is most clearly tied to the physicians’ chief challenge: Diagnosing the problem in front of them and formulating a solution.”
One final note: When asked about the challenges of achieving a fully connected healthcare environment, physicians chose cost first, but they also expressed concern that the technology is “ready for prime time,” that it will withstand challenges to patient privacy, and that their own colleagues are ready to embrace mHealth.
The study urges marketers to focus on the physician first in selling mHealth – and that’s true for anyone looking to launch an mHealth program in a health system, from the C-suite on down to the independent physician looking to tackle a nagging health concern.
Date: May 30, 2014