1. Using the Public Mobile Network for Health Care (“mHealth”) Ian Leslie Ian.Leslie@cl.cam.ac.uk 19 January 2011

2. Context Based on investigation for China Mobile: Report out in February 2011 Looking at existing and potential applications Looking at drivers and inhibitors Global perspective but heavy China focus Rather broad interpretation of mHealth application

3. General Observations No shortage of ideas Distinction between mobile and non-mobile communication is unhelpful, however: – The smallest global infrastructure gap is in mobile communication. Inexpensive “smart” handsets means that this gap, if anything, will narrow. – For the majority of the world’s population, the only port of interaction with information systems is the mobile handset – The single electrical interface that is most widely deployed in the world is the micro USB port on mobile phones. More than any given power socket! Huge potential for transfer of innovation…

4. … but Need to Partition the Application Space By economy: developed, emerging, developing By interaction with the health care system By who perceives value: consumer/patient, health care provider, government, NGO Classify China as “emerging” but lessons from China need to be abstracted

5. Most Developed mHealth App in China?

6. Application Types

7. Drug Anti-counterfeiting Photo reproduced by permission of Sproxil

8. “plug-in” innovation Mobile phone aberrometer Under $2 Uses mobile phone display Two parts: lenses, software application that runs directly on phone Diagnosis for near- and far- sightedness and astigmatism Photo reproduced by permission of MIT

9. What We Didn’t Find Much evidence that people were building in evaluation to their applications Any evidence that information generated by mobile applications in general or mHealth applications in particular was being used to inform public health

10. Speculation Consumer led, self-help, “plug-in” innovation will flourish in developed world Innovation which requires interaction with the medical establishment will flourish in the emerging world Developing world will have distinct applications, but should transfer where possible from the others