Health eVillages, a system that delivers medical expertise through mobile devices, celebrated its one-year anniversary this week. Currently operating in pilot programs in Kenya, China, Uganda, Haiti and rural Louisiana, Health eVillages disseminates specialized medical information and clinical decision tools to medical professionals through their cell phones and other mobile devices.
The knowledge relayed through these devices is also critical to the training and education of native medical staff.
Health eVillages have placed mobile devices powered by Skyscape with more than a hundred clinicians. During 2012, records showed that more than half of the clinicians in the program used the devices many times per day.
The majority of these information requests pertained to drug interactions, dosages and treatment protocols.
This innovative new program has garnered the Boston Globe’s Globe 100 award. The award judges were impressed by Health eVillage founder Donato Tramuto’s utilization of mobile health tools to provide current medical information and diagnostic tools to underserved populations.
This program was sponsored by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. A not-for-profit program, Health eVillages, seeks funding from corporate donations, and private contributors. The advisory board includes human rights leaders, international development experts, healthcare providers and health policy strategists.
At the 2012 Health 2.0 Conference, Tramuto reported the positive achievements that Health eVillages have accomplished in the past year. Tramuto enthusiastically cited the improved healthcare reaching remote and medically underserved areas around the globe.
Health eVillages, he announced, was helping areas predominantly staffed by nurses, rather than trained physicians receive up to date medical information.
Mobile medical technology, or mHealth, is expected to revolutionize a number of fields within the medical community. These new information delivery systems will distribute current medical information, help patients find medical resources in the area, develop hospital networks, and distribute medical information to mobility restricted patients.
Edited by
Braden Becker
