This morning at 7:21 I turned the alarm on my iPhone off. I then checked the weather app and my calendar to see what to wear. Got dressed, and on my walk to my first class I played music from my music library. Saw a beautiful flower, so I used my camera to take a photo.
Got on campus and remembered that I had to email my boss. So I logged into the wifi and email him. During class I took notes using the notepad app. Between classes, read the next chapter in "Hell's Dawn" using my iBooks library. At work, I did an interview which I conducted using the Voice Memo app. I also have an app for Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Blogspot and YouTube. And last month when I was lost in Boston, I used my map app to find the Hynes Convention Center.
What I saying is, I use my smart phone for everything. Everything. So why was I surprised to learn that people use their phone for healthcare? It's called mHealth, and the number of users is increasing, dramatically.
According to the info-graph, being a mHealther could save you money while increasing access to professional medical advise; is most popular in the 18-29 demographic (surprise, surprise); if you're Canadian, could save your brain; and has grown so much that the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has gotten involved - making sure the apps are safe and sound.
By no means am I luddite, but the idea of using my phone in the medical sphere seems dangerous. I know people who use exercise apps, I'm all for that. But I have to wonder if you begin to use our phones as doctor what are we losing?
Is this just like googling your vague medical symptoms and becoming convinced you have a rare disease that's never been seen in the Western Hemisphere? And all you really have is a cold? Or, is it used to keep track of your personal medical history?
ReplyDeleteJust make sure you clean your phone off occasionally, lots of microorganisms cooking there.
I think it's a little bit more involved than just Googling symptoms. I'm sure there are apps that will keep track of medical history and remind you to take pills, but I think phone apps (and maybe technology in general) are beginning to take the place of doctors. Instead of seeking a trained professional for help, we're turning to strangers online for aid.
DeleteI am one of the few who does not have an iPhone. I have i-nothing. I am a little freaked out about how much information is being shared through phones. If you lose your phone your life is in the hands of someone else. Your medical info could get hacked. I see people paying for things with their iPhones. I do not trust this government, the medical system, or anyone for that matter. I try to keep much of my personal life as private as possible. Health care through your phone? Can it give mammograms now too???
ReplyDeleteThis still won't let me post under my name. Anonymous is Becky. :)
DeleteThere's really quite a bit more to say about this app. Try for more content on the medical end; certainly that's more relevant than extensive personal narration. I went to the app site, and one thing I noticed was the source of the information. Was this an independent article or an ad/press release a company paid for? The site has both.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a very interesting point at the end of your post. With technology practically taking over our lives, we may be losing a lot of face-to-face interactions that could actually be helpful to us. We start to become our own doctors, thinking that the internet can tell us everything we need to know. Why pay a co-pay and make the trip to your primary when you can just get all your answers online? I, however, am skeptical of a lot of things I read online, and I think that the interpersonal relations with a doctor are still extremely valuable.
ReplyDeleteMy worry is that factuality. We all know that no everything found online is true, so whose to say that what I'm reading wasn't written by a bored 12 year old. It generally takes Doctors 8 years of schooling and strenuous testing before they even see a patient. I would expect them to know something coming into the room.
DeleteWebsites like Web MD have been around for years, so it makes since that there's an app to assist. Even google searches on any ailment or injury will show dozens of web pages dedicated to the specific issue . Even wikipedia and other health wikis have articles that are specialized in almost anything you can imagine. It is true that if you go to five different doctors with an ailment they will give you five different diagnoses. Medicine is not a science per say, it is a practice. It can never truly be mastered, and as people become better educated and have the resources to help themselves then so be it.
ReplyDelete