Introducing mobile technologies in support of healthcare

Abstract

The healthcare industry around the globe is in turmoil despite significant advances in medicine and medical technologies. As revealed by several reports, the problems are many and varied, and their impacts are severe. According to a recent article in Forbes magazine, 100,000 patients are killed annually in US hospitals due to medical errors, and 3% or more patients are hurt by such errors [7]. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an astonishing 24% of people surveyed said they or their family members were harmed by medical errors. While the US aviation industry reports one death per every five million passengers, the death rate in healthcare is one in 300 patients [7]. According to researchers Feng Zhu, Matt Mutka, and Lionel Ni, other problems confronting the healthcare industry include false diagnosis, poor quality of care, functional inefficiency, increasing cost of healthcare, and poor morale and public perception [12].