mHealth survey: 90% using mHealth for patient engagement

Ninety percent of more than 200 healthcare provider employees use mobile devices within their organizations to engage patients in their care, according to the 2015 HIMSS Mobile Technology Survey.

The report also showed that respondents believe that mHealth technologies are beginning to drive cost savings and improve the quality of care delivered.

Respondents of this year’s survey reported use of a variety of mobile tools including: app-enabled patient portals (73 percent), telehealth services (62 percent) and text communications (57 percent). Of these technologies, 36 percent of respondents believe the use of app-enabled patient portals is the most effective tool in patient engagement to date. 

“mHealth continues to evolve as a tool to drive healthcare efficiencies. The proposed Meaningful Use Stage 3 rule realizes this with the concept of APIs and patient generated health data, and this year’s survey showed that the widespread availability of mobile technology has had a positive impact on the coordination of patient care,” said David Collins, senior director of HIMSS mHealth Community.

Just over half (51 percent) of respondents cited budgetary constraints as a key barrier to further implementation of mobile technologies, but 54 percent indicated they had achieved cost savings when asked if the deployment of mobile technology had a positive effect in this capacity. Areas of impact included preventative support care (24 percent), telehealth interventions (23 percent) and resource utilization (21 percent).

Survey participants were asked to identify ways in which they were able to leverage mobile technology to impact patient care and 51 percent said their organization witnessed a positive impact from telehealth interventions, including the use of remote ICUs or teleradiology services and the ability to coordinate care across the care continuum, which includes the use of remote patient monitoring tools.

Access the complete report.